Muktsar farmers protest over inadequate power supply

Archit Watts

Muktsar, July 21

Irate over not getting free eight-hour power supply for tubewells, farmers in Muktsar district are frequently lodging protests.

For instance, the farmers of Mahnikhera, Bhai Ka Kera, Balochkera and Bahadurkhera villages, on Wednesday night, lodged a protest at Sitto Gunno power grid, alleging that they were not getting the adequate power supply as promised by the state government.

Just a few days ago, the farmers of Alamwala village had lodged a protest by blocking the Malout-Fazilka national highway.

Similarly, the farmers of Midda, Aspal, Raniwala and Bodiwala villages had lodged a protest at Midda village.

The farmers of Danewala village had also lodged a protest in this regard. Further, some farmers of Karamgarh village claimed that just a few farmers were getting the eight-hour free power supply.

So far, the weather has remained mostly dry. “The paddy crop requires water at this stage and the area has witnessed scanty rainfall. We are not even getting adequate power supply to run tubewells. The state government must ensure eight-hour power supply,” said Gurjant Singh, a farmer of Mahnikhera village.

On this, a senior PSPCL officer said, “The power demand has increased due to various factors and the power grids are overloaded. Due to this, many a times the farmers do not get eight-hour supply for their tubewells. A large number of farmers are daily visiting our offices as well.”