Mohali areas reel under power outages as staff strike work

With several unions of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) striking work, most parts of Mohali, Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru witnessed outages, for more than15 hours in some areas, today. Parts of Zirakpur and Dera Bassi had remained without supply from 3 am to 5 pm.

The ongoing strike has left everyone reeling under power cuts. Water supply is the first casualty, while work at hospitals, schools, banks, industrial units, government offices and households has been affected badly.

Lalru town had been without power for the entire day today and yesterday with power trickling in tranches at some places at night. The Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway here had remained shrouded in darkness for two nights. A former chairman of Dera Basi Market Committee said the Jeoli feeder near Lalru had been shut for the past three days. Dozens of villages have become powerless and waterless.

Many housing societies and commercial areas complained of no water supply as tubewells and motor pumps did not function during outages. “There had been no power in Sunny Enclave and Zirakpur from 3 am to 7 pm today. The entire area had no water supply. People are forced to buy bottled water from market," said SC Dhall, a local resident.

There was a fire incident at the Pabhat power grid on Friday.

Mubarikpur, Trivedi Camp, Bhankharpur, Sadhu Nagar and Sundar Nagar had no power at 4 am. Residents met Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa, but to no avail.

"Inverters and gensets have gone dead too. Aerocity is powerless for the past 15 hours," said Kuljinder Bawa, a Mohali resident.

Superintending Engineer of PSPCL Ashwani Kumar said the situation was under control and the department was working overtime to ensure uninterrupted supply.

Irate residents blocked the Airport Road in the Aerocity, Mohali, around 12:30 am. The police had a tough time negotiating with them.

Doctors on strike too

The government hospital OPDs remained non-functional for the second day today during the partial strike by the Punjab Civil Medical Service Association (PCMSA), which began on September 9.

For the first three days, the doctors stayed off OPDs, but for the past two days, they have struck work for the entire duration. The emergency services, however, are being run uninterrupted, said Dr Renu Singh, Mohali Civil Surgeon.

"The Aam Aadmi Clinics are operational uninterrupted. The health department helpline 104 is there to avail of consultation with specialist doctors," she added.

The power outage has had minimal impact in hospitals as most of the health facilities have hotline and any fault is repaired on a priority basis, said the doctors.

6,243 plaints filed in Mohali circle

As many as 16,319 power outage-related complaints were registered with the PSPCL in Punjab on Friday, of which 12,504 were pending at 8:30 pm. More than 14,000 workers below the SDO level are on strike. In Mohali circle, 6,243 complaints (8:38 pm) were registered, of which 6,143 were pending. The complaints against the unassigned status stand at 5,970. The striking employees met Power Minister Harbhajan Singh in the evening and they were likely to call off the strike soon.

People forced to buy packaged water

“There had been no power in Sunny Enclave and Zirakpur from 3 am to 7 pm on Friday. The entire area had no water supply. People are forced to buy bottled water from market,” said SC Dhall, a local resident