Power cuts add to winter woes of people

The failure of the PDP-BJP government to provide adequate electricity to the region has hit the common man badly this winter.

While consumers complain that the Power Development Department (PDD) does not stick to its schedule and resorts to unregulated cuts in both metered and non-metered areas, officials blame the consumers for not utilising electricity judiciously.

The worsening power scenario since the past three weeks has hit all sections of society. The worst sufferers are students and the business community across the Valley.

At present, hundreds of students are appearing in their exams in the region, but are having a tough time due to frequent power cuts. Similarly, the grim power scenario also forces the business community in the Valley to wind up their shops and units early in the evening.

“Lal Chowk is a trade centre of the Valley and the power scenario has hit the business community badly,” said chairman of the Association of Hotel and Restaurant Operators of Lal Chowk Siraj Ahmad.

“Many shopkeepers shut their shops early. The hoteliers in the area are suffering, affecting the tourism industry,” Siraj Ahmad said.

Almost all residential areas in Srinagar are facing unregulated power cuts.

“Our area is metered but we get power for a few hours only. The situation has worsened since some years,” said Mudasir, a resident of Madina Colony in Chanapora, Srinagar.

As per the PDD, the metered areas have a power cut for three hours and non-metered areas have a eight-hour power cut each day.

Meanwhile, reports from central, north and south Kashmir suggest that the PDD fails to stick to its schedule. Not only in Srinagar, but the situation is also worse in all towns and rural areas of Kashmir.

“The power cuts have no schedule,” said Prof Mohammad Ismail, a former college principal and a resident of north Kashmir’s Baramulla town.

“Power is a fundamental right of the people, especially during winter, but the government is least bothered about it. Many localities hardly get electricity and officials are busy making false claims about the power supply,” said another Baramulla resident.

Consumers said they had been paying power dues, but not getting electricity as per the schedule.

Some of the rural areas in the Valley are the worst hit as they do not get electricity for days. Residents of Bandipora and Kupwara districts are also complaining of erratic power supply. In south Kashmir, the situation is no better. In Bijbehara, the home constituency of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, people are also subjected to unregulated power cuts. “The power situation is worse since the last year,” said Peerzada Khursheed, president, Bijbehara Citizen Council.

Chief Engineer, PDD, Bashir Khan said the crisis was because of overloading and power thefts. “We are supplying electricity double the agreed load during the peak hours, but still there is a crisis,” Khan said. “The consumers use load much higher than their agreements which is the only reason that leads to power cuts in Kashmir.”

Khan said the demand for power was more than the supply, so they had to resort to curtailment.