With HUDA finally confirming that External Development Charges (EDC) collected from private builders and developers in Sectors 1 to 57 do not cover charges for setting up power infrastructure, many residents of the City may now be at the mercy of the developers, in colonies where adequate power infrastructure has not been set up as per the approved plans. The residents have been cruelly caught in a Catch 22 situation - as neither the developers nor DHBVN are owning up the responsibility for installing the required power infrastructure (mainly sub-stations). The residents in these private builder colonies opine that, despite paying premium rates to the private builders, as well as external and internal development charges (EDC & IDC), they have been given poorer facilities than even those in HUDA sectors – where the system is set up and maintained by DHBVN at no additional cost to the consumers. The problem is further complicated by the poor maintenance of power infrastructure in private colonies, which leads to prolonged outages. There is frequent damage to transformers, as they are overloaded - because most of the times the sanctioned load is far less than what is required by the colony residents. The builders have little sensitivity to this, and anyway much prefer to supply more expensive (and profitable) power through DG sets. Dharamvir Yadav, President of Sheetal RWA, who has been fighting for the power and other basic infrastructure for Mayfield Gardens, says that they have complained to every conceivable authority in the State, and even taken the matters to the Lokayukta, but the process to set things right is long and tedious. In his opinion there is too much discrimination, and so much lacunae in the system, which is causing hardships, agony and frustration among the residents; the process of seeking justice also burdens them financially. In Mayfield Gardens the problem has been further compounded by the fact that DHBVN has not issued power connections to a large number of residents, as the builder(s) has not fulfilled the commitments made as per the licence – like setting up the desired power substation, power lines and related infrastructure. Civil activists in Gurgaon claim that apart from DLF, and in some parts Unitech, no other builder has fulfilled the requirements for power infrastructure in its colony. This is despite guidelines on power infrastructure in private licensed colonies being clearly mentioned in the DHBVN Planning Manual 2006. As per the provisions in the Town and Country Planning Act, the developers are required to provide complete infrastructure/ services while developing any residential, commercial or industrial sector/area. An important constituent of infrastructure is the power system – constituting the availability of a feeding source (i.e. provision of grid sub stations as per load requirement), transmission lines, indoor switch/distribution substations for distribution transformers, LT lines and service lines for feeding to the end consumers.
As a start, a developer should possess the proper (building) licence from the Town Country Planning Department (TCP). The approved land plan should have the complete details of areas under various categories: like size-wise residential plots, details of plots earmarked for multi-storeyed buildings or group housing societies, commercial plots and the total area to be covered for markets, resorts, restaurants, multiplexes, schools, colleges or any other educational institutions, hospitals, dispensaries, community centres, police stations, water supply schemes, sewerage disposal schemes, electricity indoor substations, outdoor sub stations or any other important utility for which specific land is to be earmarked. On this basis, the load calculation is made as per guidelines laid down for specific category of load in specific areas/sizes of plots. While all these plans were made on paper, at ground level it has been revealed that a large number of builders in the City have not set up grid substations and related power infrastructure as per norms. In the Mayfield Gardens case, despite a clear direction by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) that no additional load would be sanctioned to the builder(s) till necessary infrastructure was created, the builder(s) continued to offer occupation to hundreds of buyers (without any electricity connection). A large number of house owners were given power by DG sets, which violates the rules, as power by generators cannot be the primary source of electricity. That there are at least sixteen builders who have not installed adequate power infrastructure came out when the matter reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court after DHBVN filed a petition (LPA 1584/2013) against an order passed by a single judge, which had upheld an order passed by the Permanent Lok Adalat in Gurgaon, which directed DHBVN to give a power connection to Mrs Sulekha, a house owner in Mayfield Gardens. Yadav says that the aforesaid house owner had bought a plot and built a house in that land, but when he applied for a power connection, the same was denied by DHBVN. When the house owner approached the Lok Adalat, it directed the department to release a power connection. While this was challenged in the High Court. the order in favour of the consumer was upheld by the Court. The Department responded by filing an appeal to a double bench. Meanwhile, however, it was forced to issue a connection to the house owner. It was during the course of this legal case that senior advocate Atul Nanda, along with Puja Priyadarshini (appearing on behalf of DHBVN) submitted to the High Court that there was a large scale mushrooming of colonies where the developers have obtained licences for development and sold plots/dwelling units without ensuring adequate power infrastructure. When the builders were made party to this case, they took a stand that was completely opposite to the contention of DHBVN, and maintained (in a hearing on September 25, 2013) that the responsibility of setting up grid substations in the licensed colonies was that of the govt., as these come under external development works, for which builders have already paid external development charges! With the Court asking the DTCP and HERC to file their replies in subsequent hearings, the property buyers in these builder colonies were again left in the lurch and were forced to manage with DG sets; many could not enter their newly-built homes because they did not have legal power connections. After a long hiatus, HUDA (the agency responsible for regulating the real estate sector and an arm of the government) has ‘clarified’ to the Court that the EDC charges collected did not include the cost for construction of grid substations to be set up in Sectors 1 to 57. Therefore, it should be the responsibility of the private builders to provide power substations. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for November 5th. Dharamvir Yadav says that a similar case was filed by his RWA, with HERC, in 2007. They asked the Commission to direct the developers to set up a 66 KV substation for the exclusive use of the Colony, and to improve the distribution system with the fitment/installation of the required transformers, HT & LT panels, junction boxes and electric feeder cables. HERC, in its final order in August, 2009, had asked the builder to deposit the cost of setting up of a 66 KV substation within three months. However, this Order was not complied with, and the developers filed a review petition – which, during hearing in July 2014, was dismissed. Yadav says that an order in this case is also expected soon, in favour of the residents.
DHBVN Exec. Engineer V K Agarwal tells Friday Gurgaon that the rules are clear – the private developers will have to create the necessary power infrastructure. He adds that, to ensure that such complications do not arise in the future, DHBVN is taking bank guarantees in advance from the builders, for the creation of adequate power infrastructure in colonies that will be developed in the new sectors (58 to 115). He says that the major challenge today for DHBVN is the fast increasing demand, which is rising annually by 20 per cent – with full air-conditioning being the norm across all users. The Department has incorporated the latest technologies and systems into the system, he says. DHBVN has decided to introduce smart power meters, which are capable of controlling high power loads, and also store the daily consumption details of a consumer for a year. DHBVN) will install 6,658 such meters (of international standard) in Gurgaon (and 4,537 in Faridabad), in the first phase of the project. Agarwal agrees that the residents of Gurgaon are quite aware, and they diligently pay their electricity bills. That, indeed, sir, is the double tragedy. The consumers who pay, and are willing to pay, on time, are being made to suffer.
PK Joseph of Gurgaon-based DLF Foundation is of the opinion that the power woes of the City, as well as many other cities of the country, could be resolved by the setting up of smart grids. At present, in Gurgaon and across the country, the electrical grid is very archaic. Smart grids unite Electrical Technology, Information Technology and Operating Technology (ET, IT &OT). This transforms the grid, making it more responsive and flexible, opines Joseph. What does this mean to a power utility? India has a high rate of AT&C (Aggregate Technical & Commercial) losses – often a euphuism for theft - at almost 33 %. Pursuant to Nandan Nilekani’s report on ‘IT in the Power sector’, India embarked on a reforms program called R-APDRP (Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program), to use IT to cut down losses to15%. To address this serious national issue, considering the increase in demand for power and to create the required infrastructure for growth, India needs to invest in building a modern, intelligent grid. For instance, despite Gurgaon being designated a 'solar city', little action has taken place. It emerged that an escalating power deficit is one of the major issues facing the City today, as even during off season the power shortage is a minimum 150 MW. Power theft is another cause for concern, with one fourth of the connections being so ‘impacted’. Most of the large customers are compelled to have their own diesel generators or inverters, in order to cope with power cuts. The situation is so alarming that the installed generator capacity in Gurgaon Circle has reached 2,000MW, which is almost double the total peak electricity demand of the City! Such an indiscriminate usage of DG sets not only inflates electricity bills, but also leads to increased pollution levels. It even reduces the pressure on the utility, which supplies electricity, to improve its operational efficiencies. Creating micro-grids, having a smart demand response system, would be a good starting point. Finally, certain policy options need to be looked at, however controversial they may be. Is it time for DHBVN to ‘let go’ of Gurgaon, and let a private franchise take care of the power infrastructure, operation and maintenance? This may also help resolve the constant competitive pressures between agricultural, residential, commercial and industrial demand. And with today’s smart grids; essential control can still be maintained by DHBVN.
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