CHANDIGARH: Punjab, reeling under unprecedented power shortage amid an intense heatwave, is facing unbearably long electricity outages as the demand reached a high of 14,500 MW on Thursday, resulting in a shortfall of 1,330 MW in supply.
Reminiscent of the time when Punjab was yet to claim ‘power surplus’ tag, there have been long cuts in electricity supply across the state since the last couple of days.
Many areas in Mohali faced cuts of over 14 hours since the last 24 hours, Patiala and Bathinda had power outages of up to seven hours and parts of Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Muktsar and Ludhiana had between six and 12 hours of cuts.
For over a week, the electricity supply to the state’s rural areas has been restricted and farmers are among the worst hit during the paddy transplantation season.
Under fire for not making adequate arrangements for the peak power consumption season, the Amarinder government pressed the panic button on Thursday and restricted electricity to industry and changed working hours in government offices to 8 am to 2 pm.
Urging all government offices to make judicious use of electricity, the chief minister said the situation was dire as the peak demand in Punjab had touched 14,500 MW.
So far, no decision has been made to ban the use of air-conditioners in government offices.
The pressure on Punjab’s power generation system is unprecedented at this time, with farmers needing uninterrupted electricity to run pumps to supply water for pudding during paddy transplantation.
To add to the problem, temperatures have been steadily on an upward spike with unbearable high humidity as monsoon plays an elusive game in the region.
The highest temperature in Punjab on Thursday was 43o C in Bathinda.
Read AlsoUnable to meet demand, PSPCL imposes 2-day weekly off for industrial consumersPSPCL has decided today to impose two-day weekly off for the industrial consumers except for essential and exempted categories with immediate effect.
The two-day weekly off will start from 4pm on Thursday and continue till July 3.Amarinder also urged the agitating power department employees to call off their stir, which has aggravated the crisis, with complaints of breakdowns resulting from overloading of feeders and sub-stations not being addressed promptly.
Reviewing the situation at a high-level meeting, he constituted a three-member committee, comprising additional chief secretary (development), PSPCL CMD and special secretary (finance), to resolve the grievances of the agitating employees.
7.
Renewable Energy is becoming cheaper along with being environmental-friendly, But Punjab’s potential from Solar… https://t.co/Y713oas1eq— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) 1625206591000Prioritize farm sector for uninterrupted power: CMHe assured the employees that all their genuine demands will be duly considered for appropriate action.
He pointed out that many of the demands of the employees, such as an increase in employee NPS share, restoration of generation incentive etc had already been conceded, and the 6th Pay Commission scales were also being implemented by various boards/ corporations of the state.
Pointing out that the farmers were losing precious paddy transplantation time due to the power breakdowns, Amarinder said that the agriculture sector needed to be prioritized for an uninterrupted supply of electricity.
He reiterated his government’s commitment to ensuring a regular supply of power at subsidized rates to the state’s agricultural, domestic and industrial consumers.
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) director (distribution) DPS Grewal told TOI that the demand had shot up suddenly due to domestic consumption, but the situation had eased after 2 pm on Thursday with restrictions being imposed on supply to the industry in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
“The gap of around 1,200 MW in demand and supply has been taken care of with rotational weekly cuts on the industry.
Faults in two of the units at the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant – turbine of one unit conked off in March and ID fan of another unit developing problems – and low water level in the BBMB reservoir has contributed to the problem,” he said.
Read AlsoPunjab: Rural sector faces power cuts; snags in second unit of TSPLAmid the ongoing power crisis and farmers’ agitation over irregular power supply to the agriculture sector during paddy season, the domestic sector in rural areas has also started grappling with power cuts.Ajay Pal Singh Atwal, general secretary of PSEB Engineers’ Association said, “It is an ‘energy emergency’ in Punjab, all due to ill-preparedness for the peak season.
The industry that was limping back to recovery will again be hit by the power restrictions.
Overdependence on private units, shortage of manpower and also material to fix unscheduled outages and ignoring expert advice has led to the present situation.” Atwal added that even on the human resource front, the management has failed miserably as there is not a single union that is not agitating.
Posts have been abolished without any planning.
He claimed that where there has been no addition in the state generation, installation of interconnecting transformers is also delayed.
“It appears that no serious efforts were made to arrange for sufficient power even though it was anticipated that the demand may touch 14,500 MW during the paddy season,” he said.
14 hours blackout: the main power crisis in Punjab as a quick request to shoot
