Power cuts: Malls pay through the nose

GURGAON: The ongoing power crisis has dimmed the glitzy malls in Gurgaon this summer. On an average, each mall management is shelling out over Rs 70,000 in buying diesel to keep the show on.
Many of the mall managers admit that the power shortage this year had hurt them the most. J K Gupta, senior executive of Sahara Mall, said “On an average, the power cut lasts for six to eight hours, during which a lot of diesel is used in generators.”
The power back-up of the DG sets is to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the mall.But due to long power cuts the back-up arrangement has become the only source of electricity for the entire building. The daily diesel consumption has gone up drastically and the management spent over Rs 75,000 every day because of power cuts.
According to Vijay Sinha, a unit administration head of a shop at MGF Metropolitan, the cost of extra diesel is borne by the shop owners and as the malls have more than 100 shops, the consumption of diesel is immense. “Besides our rent, we also have to pay maintenance charges for the diesel sets,” said Devinder Diama, manager of a departmental store in SRS mall.
Power cuts have forced residents to spend the daytime at the malls, where they can at least have one meal without sweating. Pooja Bhattacharya, a resident of Sector 56, said “On my day offs, I spent most of my time inside the malls. Even when there is electricity in the house, we have to face power fluctuation.”
C V Rao, head of Gurgaon Central mall, said “Customers are our first priority. We attempt to make their experience as comfortable as possible, which entails cool environment. In the last 10 days, we have faced a lot of power cuts but when compared to other states such as Uttar Pradesh, our situation is better.”