New Delhi, May 24 (IANS): Amid the lockdown, the power demand in the national capital has seen a drastic drop of about 50 per cent, but, on Sunday, it crossed the 5,000 MW mark for the first time in the season, data from State Load Dispatch Centre said.

On Sunday, the peak power demand reached 5,021 MW, the SLDC said.

The temperature is around 45-46 degrees in the national capital with the weather office predicting heat waves in the coming days. The peak electricity demand in April 2019 in Delhi was 5,664 MW, however, this year in April the peak demand did not even cross the 5,000 MW mark, an official from SLDC told IANS.

"It was only 3,362 MW."

The power demand of the city is further likely to increase, the official said.

"The power demand was low in the past few weeks as all the commercial and industrial activities were stopped in the lockdown till May 3. However, with more and more relaxations given by the governments, the activities are starting and also with the increasing heat the power demand will also increase," the official told IANS.

While few relaxations were given in lockdown after May 4, some more activities were allowed from May 18.In 2019-20, the peak power demand of Delhi reached an all-time high at 7,409 megawatt (MW) in July 2019.