Power to malls in Delhi will be stopped after 10 pm: Delhi Governor Najeeb Jung

New Delhi: Power supply to shopping malls in the national capital will be stopped during night after 10 pm, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Sunday ordered while announcing a slew of measures to address the power crisis.

During a meeting to review the power situation in Delhi, Jung also directed that people be informed in advance about power cuts in their concerned areas.

"Whenever there is less supply of power, the power distribution companies will announce a schedule informing people about the timings when electric supply will be cut. Discoms are working out a schedule which will be shared with the public," an advisory from the office of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) said.

"Power supply to malls will not be available after 10 pm. High mast halogen lamps in the streets, which consume more power, will be switched off during night peak hours to conserve energy," it said.

All government offices, including Delhi Secretariat, and universities and colleges have been asked to switch off air conditioners between 3:30 and 4:30 pm to conserve power during day peak hours.

"This does not include emergency services and critical institutions such as hospitals etc," the LG said in a statement.

"Peak load conditions occur in the city between 3 pm to 5 pm and then again from 10 pm to 1 AM during night. So, these measures will be adopted with immediate effect," the advisory said.

The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Power), senior officers of Delhi Transco Limited and CEOs of all the power distribution companies.

Delhi registered its highest ever power consumption of 109.206 million units on May 7, leading to load shedding of around 400 MW, which affected power supply in several parts of the city.

Some areas in west and south Delhi did not have power supply for as long as eight hours.

LG had earlier said that many areas will continue to face planned blackouts for a few more days as repairs to the power towers and lines which were damaged in the storm that hit the city last week are taking time.

The city has been witnessing a spell of hot weather with temperature hovering around 45 degrees Celsius.

The statement also said, "The Discoms will strengthen their call centres by increasing the number of lines and deploying additional staff so that there is better communication with the public.

Meanwhile, Jung has appealed to the people to come forward and help conserve energy by running their air-conditioners at 25 degrees centigrade or above and take all measures at home and offices to conserve electricity.