Power Outages Spark Protests in Greater Noida West Amid Heat-wave

Amid heatwave conditions that have exacerbated the power crisis in several areas of the newly developed city of Greater Noida West, frustrated residents have taken to the streets in protest against the Noida Power Corporation Limited (NPCL).

Residents of some high-rise apartments in Supertech Ecovillage 2 staged a late-night demonstration on Sunday, decrying the continuous outages that have disrupted their lives. The situation has become so dire that Dhirendra Singh, the MLA for Greater Noida (Jewar), has written a letter to the NPCL, urging them to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.

Power Outages Spark Protests

In his letter, Singh emphasized the plight of the residents, stating, "The weather is very hot, and the residents cannot expect to live without electricity." He also highlighted that residents of both apartments and villages are facing frequent outages, seeking immediate attention from the NPCL on this critical issue.

Gr. Noida (Uttar Pradesh) protesting for power cuts during peak summers. pic.twitter.com/FkCoIBotiO

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Abhishek Kumar, the president of the New Era Flat Owner's Welfare Association, expressed frustration over the widespread outages across Greater Noida West, also known as Noida Extension. "Imagine building an entire city without the facilities for it to survive. Some builders draw more power than sanctioned, and the residents pay the price. The NPCL has completely failed to provide uninterrupted power supply; imagine people living without power in high-rise apartments," he said in a statement.

Residents claim that outages are occurring more than 50 times a day in some areas. Rahul Yadav, a resident of Raksha Adella, shared, "In peak summers, we get over 50 frequent power cuts every other day. Whenever there is a reduction required in power supply, the UPPCL uses feeder 8 for that purpose, which is supposed to supply power to high-rise apartments."

NPCL Issues Clarification

In response, the NPCL issued a statement acknowledging the situation and stating that many of these housing societies might be facing outages due to overloading in their internal networks. "We are continuously working to cater to the increasing demand of the Greater Noida area. This summer, at present, the load has already increased by 80 MW compared to last year's demand, and we are catering to the present demand to the fullest extent," the statement read.

However, the NPCL clarified, "Although we do not have any restriction on power drawal by the Societies; but due to internal faults/overloading in the internal electrical network of the Societies, many of the societies may be experiencing outages due to the same."