Rural belt simmers as unscheduled power cuts spark protests across Amritsar district
Complaints have also emerged from the urban areas
Growing resentment is being witnessed in the rural areas of Amritsar district over frequent unscheduled power cuts as temperature rises sharply, with residents alleging prolonged outages during the night disrupting their daily life and farm operations.
Complaints have also emerged from the urban areas, where electricity supply has reportedly been disrupted multiple times during the night.
Residents and members of farmer organisations staged demonstrations in the Majitha area today, while activists reportedly gheraoed a Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) subdivision office at Udoke village to lodge their protest against erratic electricity supply last night.
Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee district president Ranjit Singh said the wheat harvesting season was underway and the authorities had issued instructions to suspend agricultural and domestic power supply during the daytime in order to prevent fire incidents in fields. He termed the daytime restrictions understandable under the present circumstances.
However, he alleged that long power cuts during the night were causing severe hardship to rural households. “Farmers and labourers return home exhausted after working in fields during the day, but they are unable to rest because of repeated power outages. Children and elderly people are facing biggest difficulties,” he said.
At Kaler Bala village, residents led by its sarpanch Daljit Singh held a demonstration in which farmers, labourers, women and children raised slogans against the Bhagwant Mann-led state government and burnt an effigy to protest.
Addressing protesters, speakers alleged that political rivalry in the Majitha constituency was affecting public services. They said parties should keep politics separate from essential civic needs while accusing the state government of indulging in vote-bank politics on every issue. They demanded that the government must ensure uninterrupted electricity supply in the region.
