Chandigarh: Residents reel under power cuts

Chandigarh, June 18

Amid sweltering heat, residents of many sectors and localities are reeling under unscheduled power cuts.

Unscheduled power cuts, voltage fluctuations and frequent tripping were reported from areas across the city.

Residents alleged that the Electricity Department had been imposing unscheduled power cuts for the past few days and they sometimes remained without power for hours. Residents of Daria village said the situation was worst in their area. There were frequent power cuts during daytime too. Residents of Sector 38 stated that the power supply was erratic from 6.30 pm to 2 am last night.

Resident of Sector 29 said they had been facing regular power cuts. The power supply was snapped twice last night for an hour in their area. No one picked up the helpline number of the department despite repeated attempts.

Residents of other areas such as Sector 22, Sector 23 market, Vikas Nagar, faced a similar situation.

An official of the department said there was no scheduled power cut, but the outages might be due to the occurrence of a sudden fault caused by increased power demand in some areas.

The peak power demand in city city today increased to 446MW against 427MW yesterday. Owing to the excessive use of ACs and desert coolers these days, the peak power demand had surged to all-time high of 449MW last Thursday.

The maximum temperature in the city was recorded at 43.1°C, which was 6.5 degrees above normal. The Met Department has predicted partly cloudy sky with likely light rain.

Meanwhile, MP Manish Tewari stated that the Chandigarh Administration had unilaterally filed a petition with the JETC to increase electricity rates without consulting the city’s residents or representatives. “This decision, made without transparency or explanation, is a blatant affront to the people of Chandigarh and shows a disregard for public engagement. I encourage the people of Chandigarh to attend the public hearing and voice their concerns.”