Farmers against cut in power supply

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 22

With the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) restricting daily electricity supply to tube wells to four hours, farmers are facing a problem in irrigating their late-sown basmati varieties.

The PSPCL was providing eight-hour power supply daily to tuebe wells during the paddy season, but now as the harvesting of a few early-sown fields has started, it has reduced the supply hours.

Farmers’ groups have demanded the continuity of eight-hour power supply till October 15 so that they can irrigate fields.

Kirti Kisan Union general secretary Datar Singh said, “The government had imposed a ban on paddy transplantation before June 20. So the process got delayed by 10 days, but the electricity supply time has been reduced earlier as compared to that. The government should keep in view the needs of the agricultural sector before taking such decisions.”

Dhanwant Singh Khatraekalan, district president, Kirti Kisan Union, said, “We met the border zone chief engineer of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd on Friday and submitted a request for increasing the time limit of power supply. As most of the basmati varieties have been sown late, the fields need irrigation at regular intervals.”

Dhanwant Singh said that the government was stressing on diversification but its policies were not feasible.