Under attack from the opposition BJP and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party for the hike in power tariff, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday justifies the increase and said bills had gone up due to 24-hour electricity supply.
“People will try to instigate you saying that these bills are inflated. But I would say you one cannot compare bills for 24-hour power supply to that of 8-hours supply,” Dikshit said after inaugurating a road project in Ballimaran area.
Rejecting criticism of the increase in tariff, the Chief Minister said her Government had ensured round-the-clock power supply in the city which used to witness 8 to 9-hours-long power cuts.
“There are a lot of youths here who don’t even know that there used to be 8 to 9-hour-long power outages in Delhi,’ she added.
Last month, Dikshit had said people should cut power consumption on various electrical appliances if they cannot afford high electricity tariff, a prescription that had evoked sharp criticism.
Meawhile, Kejriwal’s fast in a slum area against ‘inflated’ power and water bills entered the seventh day. On Friday, his party released a statement of support from eminent citizens , such as Justice Krishna Iyer, Admiral Ramdas (former chief of Navy), Admiral Tahiliani (former chief of Navy), J.M. Lyngdoh (former CEC), P.M. Bhargava (former Vice Chair of National Knowledge Commission), S.C. Behar (former Chief Secy, MP), A.K. Gopalakrishnan (former Chairman, AERB), E.A.S. Sarma (former Power Secreatry), Binayak Sen, S.P. Udayakumar (leader, Peoples Movement against Nuclear energy), among others.
The citizens urged the “Delhi Government and other public authorities to take note of the irregularities brought to notice by this movement and take urgent corrective action.”
The power tariff in the city was hiked by 22 per cent in 2011 followed by 5 per cent hike in February last year. The tariff was hiked by up to two per cent in May last year and again by 26 per cent for domestic consumers in July last year.
The tariff was hiked by up to 3 per cent last month. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission is again considering a hike in tariff.
Kejriwal has been asking people to join his ‘civil disobedience’ movement by not paying the bills.
Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP has also upped the ante against Dikshit, alleging that power tariff in the city was being hiked frequently at her “behest”.