With the national capital going through regular, hours-long power cuts even as the mercury notches newer highs, lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung has said that all high-mast halogen lamps should be switched off between 10 pm and 1 am, as should air-conditioners in government offices in the afternoons, when power demand peaks.

The lieutenant-governor, who is in charge of administration in the absence of a government in Delhi, reports to the union government.

Jung also said there would be no power to shopping malls after 10 pm, and said power distribution companies should publicly declare timings for outage in the capital.

Quoting an official at the L-G secretariat, a report in the Hindu said Jung told the discoms to ensure that no load shedding takes place for more than an hour at a stretch, and not more than twice a day even in the worst-affected areas.

Amid all this crisis in mid-summer, should there be an amount of scheduled power cuts in the capital’s VVIP zone – the Lutyens’ Delhi zone? Should those residing in that zone enjoy life as if all is well around them in the capital?

For the record, the temperature recorded at Palam, near the IGI airport in Delhi, was 47.8 degrees Celsius on Sunday – the highest recorded since the Palam observatory was established in 1952.