Power supply hit in various parts of Chandigarh

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

Many areas in the city faced disruption in power supply, as employees of the Electricity Department went on a one-day strike in protest against privatisation of the department.

Residents of Sector 23-B said there was no power supply in their area since midnight and it was only restored around 7.30 pm. As there was no electricity during the day, they even could not charge their mobile phones and perform other activities, they said, adding that instead of harassing the common man, the protesters should first snap the power supply of the residences of senior officials of their department.

Hitesh Puri, vice-president, Chandigarh Residents’ Association Welfare Federation, said they had been receiving complaints of power cuts since midnight from many areas of the city, including Sector 28, 35, 43, 45, etc.

Gopal Dutt Joshi, general secretary, UT Powermen Union, said on a call of the central trade unions, thousands of workers and employees of various organisations went on a one-day strike in Chandigarh today.

Advocate Ajay Jagga, member, Consumer Protection Council, Chandigarh, said, “Denial of electricity supply is a violation of human rights.”

Anil Dhamija, Superintending Engineer, Electricity Department, said they had received nearly 400 complaints of power cuts from different parts of the city today. In the absence of field staff, they still managed to restore the supply in a majority of the areas by the evening, he added.

Dhamija said the power disruption was due to rain last night. On normal days, it takes nearly 20-30 minutes to repair a minor fault, but in the absence of ground staff it was taking long to restore the power supply, he added. Fortunately, there was no major fault reported in the transmission lines, he said.

The official, however, ruled out any deliberate attempt to disrupt power supply.

On initiating action against the protesters, he said as per rules, the principle of ‘no work, no pay’ would apply on those who remained absent from their duties.