Amid sweltering heat, water scarcity, Delhi sees severe power outage

New Delhi: In Delhi, residents are now battling a power cut crisis after suffering from sweltering heat and acute water scarcity. Several parts of the national capital region (NCR) experienced power cuts after a power grid in UP's Mandola - which supplies 1,500 megawatts of electricity here caught fire, NDTV reported.

The temperatures were soaring over 40 degrees Celsius here on Tuesday afternoon.

Delhi Power Minister Atishi said that there were major power cuts in NCR since 2:11 pm on the day. Since the Mandola grid became non-operational, the administration is linking the region to other power sources, she said. She added that she will seek an appointment with the new Union Power Minister since power transitions in the country are run by the Centre.

She then slammed the Centre, saying that it was worrying that the national-level power infrastructure had come to a standstill. The failure of the national grid is also worrying. She reminded that there were no power cuts in the NCR even when the peak power demand reached 8,000 MW and accused the national power infrastructure of the current situation.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party is at loggerheads with the Centre as well as the Centre-appointed Lt Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena. Saxena had slammed the ruling party in NCR recently over the acute water crisis. When AAP blamed Haryana for not releasing Delhi's share of water, Saxena had asked AAP ministers to refrain from the blame game but find a solution to the situation.

Further, on Tuesday, the state BJP accused Minister Atishi of lying. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accused the ruling AAP of not being able to repair and replace leaking water supply pipes in the region.

"You (the AAP government and Ms Atishi) have not been able to repair pipelines despite being in power for over 10 years. If you can't stop leakage and the theft of water, what are you in the government for, only for indulging in corruption?" NDTV quoted Sachdeva.