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Chandigarh: As power demand surges, residents feel the heat
Tricity faces severe power outages amid rising temperatures, with residents enduring prolonged blackouts due to outdated infrastructure and staff shortages.
As temperatures soar across tricity, residents are facing the brunt of frequent, prolonged and unscheduled power outages. Despite official claims of adequate power availability, the ground reality tells a different story: ageing infrastructure, overloaded transformers, staff shortages and poor maintenance have led to widespread voltage fluctuations and blackouts, especially during peak evening and night hours.
Chandigarh residents face voltage fluctuations
The city is grappling with a sharp increase in electricity demand, leading to widespread power outages and voltage fluctuations—especially across southern sectors. The crisis worsened on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, when multiple areas experienced power cuts lasting nearly five hours.
Residents of Sectors 38, 39, 40, 46, and 47 reported power cuts from 9pm to 2am, forcing them to endure the intense heat without respite. “Every evening, the voltage either shoots up dangerously or drops to the point that appliances stop working altogether. Power supply is highly erratic. Residents are being pushed to the brink during the peak of summer,” said Jagtar Singh Chant, president of the resident welfare association (RWA), Sector 39-C.
In Sector 38-A, Joginder Singh, president of the RWA, said, “The helpline numbers of Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL) were either unreachable or not working. We kept calling, but there was no response. Despite multiple complaints, no one came to restore the supply,” he said.
A resident from Sector 38 said, “When we finally got through, we were bluntly told that no one was available to attend the fault. Only three employees were on duty and the rest had left.”
Residents claimed the supply resumed only at 2.30am.
Officials blame the issue on the city’s ageing power infrastructure, which has seen little improvement since the privatisation of the power department and its transfer to CPDL.
“The situation becomes worse in summers when power demand increases suddenly. But no new transformers have been installed. There’s been no visible effort to upgrade the ageing infrastructure,” said Gopal Dutt Joshi, general secretary of the UT Powermen Union. “The system is outdated and collapsing under pressure.”
CPDL data reveals electricity demand jumped from 338 MW on May 14 to 425 MW on May 20—an over 25% increase.
“Some pockets are experiencing low voltage due to unauthorised load extensions by consumers, leading to overloading,” said CPDL director Arun Kumar Verma. “To address this, we are planning infrastructure upgrades and deploying outsourced fault response teams from June 1.”
Mohali power cuts see no end
Despite claims of surplus power by the Punjab government, several parts of Mohali district, including Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Nayagoan and New Chandigarh, are facing power cuts ranging from 8 to 17 hours. Aerocity was among the worst hit, witnessing a 17-hour power cut.
Residents blame frequent, unscheduled power outages on outdated infrastructure, poor maintenance and a severe shortage of staff. The situation deteriorated further after contractual staff went on strike on Tuesday.
“There are 571 sanctioned posts for linemen and assistant linemen, but 203 are lying vacant. One junior engineer is handling 17 sectors and nine villages with just two linemen,” said a Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) official.
PSPCL superintending engineer of Mohali circle said frequent outages are due to maintenance work.
A PSPCL officer pointed fingers at GMADA for failing to maintain underground cables in Ecocity, Aerocity and IT City. “Some cables are damaged and joined with others, causing faults and blackouts,” he said.
Records show multiple 66KV grids operate on a single-source (radial) supply, with no alternate backup. “There are around 19 grid sub-stations in the district, of which nearly 30% are overloaded,” said an official.
Several key infrastructure upgrades, including upgrading the Mubarakpur grid to 220 KV and commissioning the Sector 109 grid, remain stuck in red tape.
Urban areas are facing power cuts due to overloaded and damaged transformers.
Residents claim unauthorised power use by some in Panchkula
Rising temperatures and an unreliable power supply have made life difficult for Panchkula residents, who are also experiencing frequent and unscheduled power cuts across various sectors.
Residents of Sectors 4, 7, 18, and others reported daily outages lasting between two to four hours.
“There is no power shortage in Panchkula. Most unscheduled cuts are due to line disturbances caused by storms or rainfall. Supply is restored once repairs are done,” said Sanjay Kumar, SDO (Operations), City Panchkula.
“Excessive and unauthorised power use by some residents is overloading local transformers, affecting localities,” said Mohit Gupta, a resident.
