Amritsar: Frequent cuts may jeopardise gains made by AAP through free power units

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, May 29

Frequent and long power cuts in the scorching summer heat may reverse the gains secured by the AAP government by offering free of cost 300 power units per consumer per month in the Lok Sabha elections.

Raman Gupta, a resident of posh Sant Avenue on the British era Mall road, said power cuts have become the order of the day. For the past few days, power outages were being enforced in the middle of the night. Power outages are enforced during the day and also at night. “We do not want freebies but quality and uninterrupted power supply,” said Gupta.

Bhajan Singh of Mohini Park area on the GT road, opposite Khalsa College, said load-shedding accentuated the blazing hot summer conditions in his house, forcing children to sit out.

Sahil of Mahindra Colony in Joda Phatak area said power supply had not been restored till 4 pm today since it went off last evening. Pawan Kumar, a resident of another area of Joda Phatak, which houses several slum areas, said load-shedding for two to three hours was being introduced in different parts of Joda Phatak every day. They questioned the claim of uninterrupted power supply by political parties in the state, including the AAP.

Constraints on power supply were observed in commercial areas of the holy city. Mohit Chopra, a store owner on the upscale Lawrence road, said power went off nearly six times till 6 pm today. Frequent and erratic load-sheddings made people fall back on diesel-run generators, he said.

They said frequent and long power cuts in the scorching heat may haunt the ruling AAP government during the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier, political analysts believed that the ruling AAP government’s free of cost 300 units of power per consumer per month may influence the voters coming from middle and lower middle income groups in the Lok Sabha election.

There have been several power cuts and compulsory day-long power shutdown on every Monday, witnessed in different parts of the city, said residents.

Responding to the question, the Chief Engineer of PSPCL’s Border Range, categorically stated that there were no compulsory day-long power cuts on any given day of a week. Due to rise in temperature, the power demand has shot up, he added.