Saturday 9 August 2014

Delhi MPs take the floor in Lok Sabha : Ramesh Bidhuri

NEW DELHI: Six of Delhi?'s seven MPs made their first impression in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during a discussion on the state budget. While Pravesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri made forceful speeches in their first attempt in the house rebutting allegations from the opposition, Meenakshi Lekhi made a slew of suggestions in a speech that ran for almost half hour.

Udit Raj restricted himself to raising issues in his constituency even as Maheish Girri invoked culture and spirituality. Manoj Tiwari, under attack from TMC?s Saugata Roy for being absent from his constituency, took refuge in couplets to heap praise on finance minister Arun Jaitley?s budget.

The discussion on Delhi budget was initiated by Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda who said since his party lost power, the problems of citizens had multiplied. Hooda?s allegations were quickly rebutted by New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi who said the previous government did not spend enough funds for infrastructure in Delhi.

West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma made the maximum impact with his speech which was full of facts and figures. The speech made such impression on Jaitley who later congratulated him. Verma attacked Sonia Gandhi claiming that she had distributed 840 unauthorised colonies provisional certificates but none had been regularised.

East Delhi MP Maheish Girri took refuge in illustrious history of the nation and criticised the previous government for its policies which had produced more number of mentally ill patients than was the capacity at Asha Kiran.

Udit Raj raised issues such as lack of Metro rail connectivity and water availability in his North West Delhi constituency. North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, who came under attack from Saugata Roy as the ?Bhojpuri actor who remains absent from his constituency, said he did not understand why the budget was being opposed.

South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri spoke on the lines of Verma but was quintessentially loud. Taking potshots at Congress he said, "New posters have come up where a donkey is perched on the head of a giraffe exclaiming he can't see acchhe din. Acchhe din will never be visible to donkeys."



Power demand records third all-time high - Ramesh Bidhuri

NEW DELHI: As rains continue to be elusive, the hot and sultry weather set the electricity demand spiralling up till the capital reached an all-time high for the third time in seven days on Tuesday. At 3.20pm in the afternoon, the power demand touched 5,925MW.

A spokesperson for Delhi Transco said, "Before this, the highest demand was recorded on July 11 at 5,810MW. With rising heat and humidity, demand for power is rising and may go up to 6,100MW this season. Delhi has sufficient power to meet requirements. However, people are requested to use electrical appliances, especially airconditioners, judiciously."

The power department attributed the surge in demand to excessive heat and humidity and increased purchasing power of the consumer. Many households have switched to airconditioners which are being used round the clock. "During the last four years, there was an increase of 1,200MW in maximum demand. The city is seeing a 10-15% increase in demand annually," said an official.

Discoms had expected peak demand to be recorded in July. In fact, the department of power had directed them to prepare for a peak load of 6,200MW this season.

"Sunday afternoon's 26.5mm rain may have brought relief to Delhiites from heat, but it has caused humidity levels to shoot. On Tuesday, they oscillated between 52 and 85 per cent," said an official in the Indian Meteorological Departmentofficial.

Many parts of the city faced frequent interruptions in supply. Parts of east Delhi like Kalyanpuri, Mayur Vihar, Kondli and Ganesh Nagar suffered outages while MP Ramesh Bidhuri claimed that Palam, Chhatarpur, Mehrauli and Raj Nagar have been facing power cuts lasting 12 hours over the fortnight.

"Long power cuts have been reported in these areas. No one is listening to residents' complaints. Congress privatized discoms for its own gains but they are not delivering and are trying to evade a CAG audit. BSES should have prepared a summer action plan. We have approached the LG to resolve this issue. If the situation continues, we will stage a massive protest," the official added

Article Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Power-demand-records-third-all-time-high/articleshow/38441293.cms