Curfew in Chandigarh: Zone allocation for utility services ‘faulty,’ far from home, say repairmen

Say customers will have bear higher costs if they travel long distances as per zone allocation

Though the Chandigarh administration has allowed utility service providers to visit clients’ homes to make life easier for residents under lockdown due to Covid-19, it appears to have inconvenienced electricians, plumbers and air-conditioner repairmen here.

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Many service providers authorised by the administration to operate in six zones in the city have been allotted areas far from their homes, making movement difficult in a curfew and that too with the virus outbreak.

Vikas Kumar, who has been assigned to handle plumbing jobs in zone 1 for Sectors 1 to 13, Kaimbwala, Khuda Jassu and Kishangarh villages, is a resident of Sector 48. “It doesn’t make sense for me to go all the way to Manimajra now, especially in these times when it’s best to travel short distances,” he says. Other plumbers too allocated this zone have a problem, as Surinder Singh lives in Sector 48 and Angrej Singh in Maloya.

Electrician Himanshu Gosain has been allocated zone 2, comprising Sectors 14 to 17, 22 to 25, Dhanas and Sarangpur. “I live in Sector 38, yet I have been assigned areas that are far from home. We have to bear travel costs and customers will accordingly have to pay up if we have to move long distance,” he says.

Shiv Mohan Singh, allotted zone 3 with Sectors 18 to 21, 27 to 30, Mauli Jagran, Daria and Raipur Kalan, lives in Sector 41, “right at the opposite end of where I’m supposed to go,” he says.

REPAIRS INEFFECTIVE AS MARKETS CLOSED

Another problem that the service providers have is that though they are receiving 20 to 30 calls a day, many of them can’t do much as parts are unavailable because markets are closed.

Parwinder Singh, an AC repairman in zone 3, says gas refills for ACs are unavailable. That is the reason why, says Sukha, an electrician in zone 6, that they were only attending genuine emergencies even though they were receiving many complaints.

Commenting on the matter, UT chief engineer Mukesh Anand said, “Distance is a trivial issue. What matters most is fixing people’s issues. In two days, we have solved 475 complaints and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from people.”