New Delhi, July 19, 2006

Press Release

Monsoons are here – Help us serve better

• BSES has geared up for the monsoon months
• Adopt safety measures as rain soaked power distribution system increases possibility of outages, electrocution and over-loading due to shortage of power and problem of low-frequency
• Please bear with our Rotational Loadshedding programme
• Our efforts are directed towards causing you minimum inconvenience

Monsoon is in to everyone’s delight. At BSES we have undertaken all possible steps to ensure that our customers continue to enjoying the pleasant weather and an uninterrupted power supply. But monsoons bring with them, their own set of unique problems – and at times beyond the sphere of a discoms influence.

Some of the unique problems during monsoon (like heavy rain, water-logging, strong winds, uprooting of trees, etc) threaten the distribution system and safety parameters often require us to resort to load-shedding/ unscheduled outages. In order to minimize inconvenience to all its customers, BSES has directed its Operations & Maintenance personnel to attend to every such problem on a war-footing so that power is restored at the earliest.

The problems which arise during monsoon months are:

• Damage to overhead cables, transformers by tree / branch falling - In order to safeguard human lives and equipment, it may be necessary, at times, to switch off the overhead lines as a precautionary measure
• Increased possibility of underground cables getting damaged on account of water-logging / seeping moisture - Though a lot of augmentation work has been carried out, some of the underground buried cables are prone to the affect of moisture and may cause interruptions.
• Overloading of LT feeders on account of excessive but undeclared load by customers – customers are advised against using energy more than their sanctioned load.

While BSES strives to keep its system up and running, it has little control over issues like the current shortage of power and incidence of low frequency in the Northern Grid - which necessitates rotational loadshedding. BSES resorts to loadshedding of the Delhi State Load Dispatch Centre who in turn are getting instructions from the Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre.

Although BSES will endeavor to strictly adhere to the revised load shedding schedule, but the loadshedding may increase or decrease, depending upon the availability of power for distribution and prevailing weather conditions. BSES urges its customers to also take safety precautions and inform their local offices in case of any breakdown. Please do also cooperate with our personnel who are engaged in the work of restoration of supply and attending to breakdowns.

For further information please contact: