Zirakpur: Residents of face long power cuts

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, January 9

Residents faced long power outages as the supply played hide and seek for the fourth day today.

Parts of Baltana, Gazipur, Dhakoli and other areas are going powerless for hours daily at a time when work from home and online classes are the order of the day. Residents said the outage began around Tuesday and continued till Sunday evening.

Himanshu Mishra, a student of Class IX and resident of Govind Vihar, said, “With long power outages, it is difficult to attend online classes. Once laptop and mobile phone batteries are discharged, there is no way to charge them again till power supply is restored.”

For employees who are working from home, it is frustrating. “Most of the times you have to sit for long hours. If there is no power, how will we work,” said Ipsita Thakur, a Gazipur resident.

At the same time, outages in the peak winter season has left everyone out in the cold. “In summer, officials of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) say outages are due to overloading. In winters, bad weather becomes a ruse. One thing is clear, PSPCL is not delivering despite charging the highest rate per unit in the country,” said Deepinder Mor, a retired government official.

PSPCL officials said due to bad weather, supply was disrupted for sometime but “we are promptly attending to the complaints and ensuring uninterrupted supply”.