CHANDIGARH: Summers are not yet here, but Punjab is facing an unprecedented power crisis. Despite an average daily bill of Rs 15 crore for power purchase from outside, consumers are facing long, uncomfortable power cuts, which are turning daily schedules topsy-turvy, besides causing huge financial losses.
Farmers, meanwhile, sit idle during the day and wait for the night when power supply reaches their doorsteps with fits and starts.
In village Ramgarh, around 10 kilometre from Phagwara, serpentine queues of women and children start forming from morning and stay till evening at the lone hand pump in the village since power cuts start from midnight and last till late afternoon hours on the next day and put a hold on the regular water supply.
The old hand pumps have gone dry and submersible pumps or tubewells are ‘powerless’, says Inderjit Kaur, a village resident.
“Cattle remain hungry as most of the households have power-run fodder-cutting machines,” she said, adding that power cuts usually last for 8 to 10 hours a day. In Mehalkalan village, farmer Manjit Singh said they get power only for up to four hours daily.
The scenario in urban areas is dismal where industry is forced to shut down for two days every week due to weekly offs imposed by PSEB. There is also a regular off for the labour force, thus the production shuts down for three days effectively.
(more…)