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Ludhiana industrialists fume over unscheduled power cuts
Industrialists of the Focal Point area claimed that they had been facing the problem of frequent unscheduled power cuts for the past three months due to which they have to stop the manufacturing process midway suffer losses
City industrialists are fuming over the erratic power supply and criticising the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for ‘inefficient’ service.
Industrialists of the Focal Point area claimed that they had been facing the problem of frequent unscheduled power cuts for the past three months due to which they have to stop the manufacturing process midway suffer losses.
They said most affected areas were Focal Point Phase 4 and Industrial Area C. These areas, they said, had been facing power cuts for three to four hours daily and the problem has not been resolved even after repeated complaints.
“In a recent meeting with deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, we raised the matter how industrialists were incurring losses due to unscheduled power cuts. We requested the power department officials present to reduce the number of power cuts," said Badish Jindal, president, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association (FOPSIA).
“There is no reason for the department to cut the supply during these months. Even power consumption goes down during these months. It is the PSPCL's maintenance fault due to which industrialists are at the receiving end. During the meeting, the PSPCL officials admitted they are facing a shortage of staff and they do not have the proper staff to resolve the issues," he added.
Rajan Gupta, president, Phase 4 Focal Point Association, said, "We have been facing this problem for a long time. Power gets interrupted anytime and takes one to two hours to be restored due to which we are forced to stop the operation. Industrialists have been regularly updating the power department on the WhatsApp group and during meetings, but to no avail.”
The industrialists said they would soon submit a comprehensive report on different issues faced by the industrialists concerning power supply to the DC.
PSPCL EXPLANATION
Engineer-in-chief DPS Grewal, PSPCL Central zone, said, “The department is currently carrying out the maintenance work of 11 kV feeders due to which power is interrupted. All existing feeders are being repaired so that there is no problem in the power supply in the coming months," said Grewal.
"There are no unscheduled power cuts. The department has been informing the residents before such cuts for maintenance work through newspapers and groups," he added.
