Coal stock at some power stations in the national capital region has dipped to an "alarming" level and if it is not replenished at the earliest, Delhi could be staring at "black-out" situations, city's Power Minister Satyendar Jain said today.

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Jain said that he has already written to Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal apprising him of the situation and sought his intervention into the matter.

"It has been brought to my notice that coal-based generating stations of NCR i.e. Dadri I & II and BTPS (Badarpur Thermal Power Station) are facing coal shortage and at present some of them have coal stock availability for only one or two days," he said in the letter.

Interacting with reporters at his office at the Delhi Secretariat, he said there is a shortage of coal stock at Jhajjar power station too.

"There is no surplus coal at these stations and if the stocks are not replenished, there could be a black-out situation in Delhi," Jain said, adding, "This could become a serious problem, if not addressed timely." According to sources, the situation was brought to the notice of the Delhi government by power distribution companies.

In his letter to the Union minister on May 17, Jain also said, "It has also been gathered that this coal shortage is due to non-availability of transportation rakes/wagons with Indian Railways." The minister has requested Goyal to "intervene and resolve this crisis-like situation at the earliest" in the interest if consumers of Delhi, and the power sector.

"As you are aware that peak summer season has started and during summer season Delhi experiences very high power demand, this year the peak demand of Delhi is expected to touch 7,000 MW. With the rising temperatures and increasing power demand, this coal stock position is very alarming and needs immediate attention in order to avoid load shedding or any major grid incidents," Jain said in the letter.

He urged Goyal to issue necessary instructions to the ministries/offices concerned to not only resolve the current situation at the earliest, but also to take steps to avoid such situations in the future.

 

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)