The power situation in the national capital is “thousand times better” than what is used to be 13 years ago and the power distribution companies have done a “good job”, the Supreme Court said on Friday.
Disposing off a plea filed 13 years ago for improving the condition of electricity supply in the city, a bench of justices D.K. Jain and M.B. Lokur said the power scenario in the national capital region (NCR) is much worse than what it is in Delhi. “In the National Capital Region, conditions are so bad that things in Delhi are thousand times better,” the bench said. The court also observed that the power distribution firms have done a good job and they deserve to be appreciated.
The apex court had taken up the case in 1999 when a PIL was filed drawing the court’s attention to the death of a patient in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) due to power failure. During the last 13 years, the matter was listed for 57 times before various benches of the apex court.
During the final hearing on Friday, amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar recalled the way the court had once described the transmission and distribution losses as “theft and dacoity”. He told the court that the figure of nearly 35 per cent transmission and distribution (T&D) loss has now come down to 10 per cent which is accepted as normal T&D losses.
The court recalled that over a decade ago, no house in one of the colonies supplied by the electric supply company had power meters, while the situation had improved tremendously now. The amicus curiae told the court that the Delhi government has regularised a large number of unauthorised colonies and this would lead to enhanced consumption of power. He said that the government was trying to ensure that more power is available to cater to the newly authorised colonies.
The bench remarked that there is no colony or even a “jhuggi” (hut) in the city which does not have electricity as people get power connection by “hook or by crook”.