The All India Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF) has urged the government to declare the current heatwave as a natural calamity due to soaring power demand. AIPEF has also requested changes to office timings and closure of commercial establishments to combat the situation.
New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) Power engineers' body AIPEF on Monday urged the government to declare severe heat waves as "a natural calamity".
The power demand has breached all government estimates and is likely to go upward in the coming months, the All India Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF) said in a statement.
"In a letter to Prime Minister... Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories, AIPEF has demanded that the heat wave be declared a natural calamity in view of rapidly increasing demand for electricity in the current conditions," the statement said.
On May 30, power demand in north India reached an all-time high of 86.7 GW. During the past month, the maximum power demand crossed 29,000 MW in Uttar Pradesh, 14,000 MW in Punjab, 12,000 MW in Haryana, and 8,300 MW in Delhi, the body said.
India's overall power demand has breached the 250-GW mark.
"In view of the above, AIPEF has requested to declare the present heat wave as a natural calamity like floods and cyclones and take measures to tackle the situation. We request the office timings to be changed to 7 am to 2 pm.
"All commercial establishments, malls, shops, etc, should be closed at 7 pm. Free power as a state policy should be stopped," AIPEF Chairman Shailendra Dubey said.
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