The Delhi government has asked the Delhi Jal Board to supply water between 3 and 5 in the morning instead of the present 5-7 am timing so as to stagger electricity consumption during winter.
It has found that geysers are switched on across the city for around two hours every morning at about the same time as booster pumps. If geysers and boosters are not on at the same time, the government might not have to buy power from other states to tide over a possible shortfall.
The Jal Board is yet to respond to Power Minister Haroon Yusuf’s suggestion. But officials have a tip for those who are not too happy about the prospect of getting up so early — buy devices costing Rs 300-400 which would start the pump automatically when water is available.
Explaining the rationale behind the government’s move, Power Minister Haroon Yusuf said: “The peak power consumption during winters has been observed to be between 5 am and 7.30 am... people use geysers as well as water booster pumps as they get ready to go to work.’’
“We have proposed to the Delhi Jal Board to supply water between 3 am and 5 am so the... running (of) these booster pumps is limited between this period. After that, residents can switch on their geysers. In this manner, the power consumption can be staggered and demand will be lowered,” he said.
DJB officials were asked to mull over the idea at a recent meeting with senior Power Department officials and discoms chaired by Yusuf.
A DJB official said pumps used by ordinary residents and pumping stations consume around 600 MW during the 5-7 am period. He said if the consumption is staggered there would be “no crisis during peak hour”.
‘Scary prospect’
We get water in the mornings till 9 am . If this proposal gets implemented, it will be very hard to take out time from our schedules to store water
— Sanghamitra Sinha, school teacher, Model Town
The mere thought of getting water from 3 to 5 am and more so, in winters is so scary. Does DJB think all of us are working in call centres? I totally disapprove of the idea
—Namrata Matta, insurance firm employee, Mayur Vihar
This is an impractical idea, specially since we work late at night. This will completely disrupt our schedules
—Rajesh Gupta, office administrator, GK 1