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Ludhiana: ‘Biz affected’: Hosiery units decry frequent outages
Unit owners say the area has been facing unplanned power outages lasting two to three hours every day, severely affecting production during the peak hosiery season
Despite a steep decline in the overall power demand and an announcement of spending over ₹1,171 crore in infrastructure upgrades across Ludhiana district under the Roshan Punjab campaign, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) continues to falter in ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply to prominent hosiery hubs in the city, particularly Guru Vihar and Kailash Nagar near Rahon road for the past four months, unit owners in this area said.
Highlighting their frustration, unit owners further say the area has been facing unplanned power outages lasting two to three hours every day, severely affecting production during the peak hosiery season, a time when factories run on tight delivery schedules and every hour of the downtime means financial loss.
Vinay, a local entrepreneur who runs a manufacturing unit, said,” The situation has been the same for months despite repeated complaints. We have been frustrated now. Since August, this area has been reeling under daily power outages. On Monday also, my unit at Guru Vihar street number 1 near the Hosiery Complex on Rahon road faced a power cut from 9 am to 12:30 pm. This has become a regular occurrence.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Rajeev Kumar, another entrepreneur, said, “The erratic power supply has disrupted our work cycle and increased operational costs. We have made several rounds of complaints to the officials concerned at the Sunder Nagar division, but they have not taken any concrete action to resolve the issue. Every time we report the problem, they tell us it is due to some technical glitch and assure us that it would not happen again. But the very next day, the same thing repeats. We are left helpless. Should we focus on running our business or spend our time visiting PSPCL offices to get the same hollow assurances? The officials say the issue is being worked on, but there’s no visible improvement,” he said.
Another hosiery owner in Guru Vihar said,” This is the peak hosiery season when we have to deliver orders on time. But these unplanned outages lasting two to three hours every day completely disrupt our work.”
When the power goes off suddenly, our machines stop mid-process, causing jerk load and damaging the motors. Once the supply returns, restarting everything takes time, wasting both material and production hours. The government and the PSPCL talk about a “Roshan Punjab”, but they cannot provide regular electricity to small industries, he added.
Responding to the concerns, Jagmohan Singh, executive engineer (XEN) of the Sunder Nagar division, said steps have already been taken to improve the power supply in the affected areas. “We have recently bifurcated the feeder lines responsible for the power supply here. Earlier, the load was very high, so to improve supply reliability, we have also installed a new 11 kV feeder line. The ongoing disruptions are mainly due to this upgrade work,” he explained.
Dismissing the claims of frequent unplanned outages, Singh said most shutdowns were planned and carried out after proper intimation to the industries. “The outages are mainly scheduled maintenance activities that take place weekly. We have again planned a shutdown on Tuesday from 9 am to 5:30 pm in these areas, and this will be the last one. After this, the power supply will remain stable,” he assured.
Singh further added that the situation has been affected by the ongoing strike of PSPCL’s outsourced staff since November 7, working as Complaint Handling Bikes (CHB) and Complaint Handling Wagons (CHW) responsible for attending to local faults. This has also contributed to the delay in addressing power disruptions,” he said.
