Ardee residents call cops to restore power supply

GURUGRAM: Residents of Ardee City in Sector 52, reeling under rotational power cuts on account of its exceedingly low sanctioned load against its massive demand, sought police intervention on Tuesday.
They said the builder would have to pay a big fine if it draws power beyond its sanctioned load, which is why, to distribute the load equitably, it is forced to take recourse to load shedding every day.

A similar load shedding on Monday angered residents so much that matters came to a head around 10.30pm, when some of them rushed to Ardee Club, the complaint centre at the builder’s office in the society. An ensuing spat led to police intervention, after which power supply was restored in some houses. None of the spokespersons of Ardee City could be reached for comment despite repeated attempts by TOI.

Residents said throughout Monday, they had to face intermittent power cuts. “By evening, the situation started to worsen. On an average, we have to face 7-8 hours of power cuts every day,” said Chaitali Mandotra, a resident. Angry residents stormed the Ardee Club office. “As soon as we reached the office, we had a spat with the builders’ representatives,” said another resident, who did not want to be quoted. “After the heated exchange, the builders’ representatives locked the room and fled, leaving us seething with anger, as we had no one to seek answers from,” he continued. Residents said they then dialled 100 and called police. “Police arrived sometime past midnight and sought to pacify the protesters. They also called the builders and asked them to restore power. Thankfully, power was soon resumed in many homes,” another resident added.

Many residents complained that the power crisis in the township was worsening by the day. They were angry that load shedding had become a norm in the society. “Ardee has a sanctioned load of only 5MW, against its requirement of 22MW,” they said.

Ardee City recently attempted out-of-the-box solutions to end its power woes. The discom encashed the Rs 7 crore bank guarantee the builder had deposited with it, following norms. The guarantee is supposed to be returned, once the builder develops the necessary power infrastructure.

But, at the time the corporation sanctioned a survey in preparation for taking over its maintenance, Ardee figured among 16 big builders in the city that were reported to have several ‘inadequacies’. A spokesperson of discom DHBVN had earlier told TOI that with the encashed amount, they expect to develop a substation and other necessary infrastructure within six months on their own, to meet requirements. The society also embarked upon a plan to switch the distribution and billing from the builder to the discom itself. This, said residents, would benefit the township and improve its power supply.

Officials at Sector 53 police station confirmed they had sent over staff to the society after receiving a call on the emergency number. “But we didn’t register an FIR. Rather, we communicated the issue to the discom, DHBVN,” officials said.