Amit Bathla

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 2

Even though the Haryana Government has promised to make Panchkula an ‘inverter-free’ city, for residents bearing the brunt of unscheduled power outages over the past one week, it seems like a far-off dream.

Twitter flooded with complaints

• With no response from helpline numbers, residents flood Twitter with electricity complaints to vent out their frustration due to the unscheduled power cuts.
• With their grievances, the residents generally tag UHBVN; MD, UHBVN; Haryana Power Minister Ranjeet Singh; CMO Haryana, expecting a maximum reach that might result into an immediate redressal.
• From UHBVN official Twitter handle, the response to the grievances remains prompt but it doesn’t change the situation on the ground.

‘Voltage fluctuates’

Due to the electricity fluctuations on the night of June 27, our home appliances got damaged. It cost us around Rs60,000. - Nirbhay, a resident of Sector 4, MDC

Earlier this year, state Power Minister Ranjit Singh had said that the state government was planning to provide uninterrupted power supply to make Gurugram and Panchkula inverter-free cities.

Power outages amid the sweltering temperature have only added to residents’ woes. From urban pockets to places such as Kalka, Pinjore, Barwala, Raipur Rani and Morni, hardly any area has been left untouched. For students and employees working from home, it’s another obstacle in the scorching weather.

“The power supply has become awry with no predictable pattern to the power cuts. The increased power cuts could not have come at a worse time as when temperatures hover above 40°Celsius,” said Munish of Sector 15.

“There have been frequent electricity cuts in Panchkula for the past one month. There is a power cut almost every day (both during the day and night hours). It’s hard for people like us working from home or studying online. If this is happening in a well-planned city, what would be the situation villages?” said Sarthak Nath, adding that not everyone had inverters or generators at their homes.

Apart from power cuts, residents are worried about low-voltage issues and its impact on expensive electronic appliances such as LED televisions and air conditioners, stabilisers notwithstanding.

“Due to the electricity fluctuations on the night of June 27, our home appliances got damaged. It cost us around Rs60,000,” said Nirbhay of Sector 4, Mansa Devi Complex (MDC).

SK Nayar, president of the Citizens’ Welfare Association (CWA), said: “Our sleep gets disturbed due to power cuts during the night hours. For the past many days, it has become a daily occurrence. We have been clearing our bills on time, but authorities have failed to ensure uninterrupted power supply. All tall claims of making the city inverter-free are nothing but mere eyewash.”

However, UHBVN Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Rajender Kumar Rohilla denied any shortage of electricity.

“A lot of problems occur due to a huge demand of electricity due to the unrestricted use of air conditioners and other heavy appliances in every second house, resulting in breakdown from overloading. However, we do ensure the power is restored as soon as possible in the area where the fault has occurred,” he said, adding that the UHBVN has sufficient electricity power to meet the current electricity demand.