GURGAON: It will be difficult, if not impossible, to extend the ban on diesel generator set that kicked in on October 17 in Delhi to its immediate neighbours in NCR - Gurgaon in the south and Noida and Ghaziabad in the east. Outages are a daily affair in all three NCR cities, which also happen to have high corporate and manufacturing industry presence, leading to high power demand. But both the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments have failed over the years to ensure continuous power supply, leading to largescale dependence on gensets, both by the hundreds of housing societies there and factories.
Industrialists and RWAs, as a result, fear any ban on diesel generator sets will bring life in these cities to a standstill. The ban on diesel-powered gensets in Delhi till March 15 was enforced as part of the graded response action plan (GRAP) drawn up by the Environment Pollution Control Authority. However, with winter typically being a season when pollution levels are high, the NCR cities will also have to take steps to control pollution. Diesel gensets are a major contributor, putting the focus on the uncertain power situation in NCR. "Requirement of banning diesel gensets is more in Gurgaon as compared to Delhi or any other city. Banning gensets is definitely required. But it is impossible to do so with current power supply," said Niranjan Raje, former member of the Supreme Court-mandated EPCA.
Pollution control board officials in Gurgaon are, however, confident that measures being taken under GRAP, which has also been implemented by the district administration, and the curbs on crackers will keep pollution levels low. "As of now, there is no need to implement ban on diesel gensets in Gurgaon. We have been keeping a close watch on PM 2.5 and implementing GRAP accordingly," said Jai Bhagwan, regional officer, HSPCB.