Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 7

After no domestic power cuts for the past few days, city residents once again reeled under power cut for over two and a half hours this afternoon.

Amid scorching heat and blazing sun when most people prefer staying indoors, families were seen coming out on roads in various colonies to heave a sigh of relief. Residents of areas with smaller dwelling units as in Bhargo Camp, Gandhi Camp, Abadpura and other old city areas even took out their charpoys, chairs and sat underneath a shady place and used hand fans to comfort themselves a bit.

The power cut started at around 1.30 pm and continued up to 4 pm during which heat wave further added to the residents’ discomfort. The city gets the MC’s direct water supply in the afternoon from 1 pm to 2 pm and supply of water for half of this time could not be possible today. Residents of Bhargo Camp said owing to a sunny day and power cut, they felt that their rooms had turned into ovens and they could not bear the heat and hence preferred coming out.

Meanwhile, even industrialists have been ruing that the power cut imposed on them for the past nearly five days now said that their losses had mounted. Focal Point Extension Association president Narinder Singh Saggoo said, “We understand that there has been a continuous dry spell. We also understand that agriculture needs to be given a priority at this time. We also understand that there has been an increase in demand for domestic power supply because of work from home culture. But at the same time, the schools, colleges, marriage palaces etc are not working these days. Many people have also left for tourist places.”

He further asked, “All such things could have been pre-empted and special provisioning should have been made. Since the sales of electronic items, including mobile phones, computers, etc, has risen for over the past one year, the demand of power was certainly set to rise”.

Industrialists say that the government had done nothing to encourage installation of solar plants and no subsidies were coming to those who took such an initiative. “We are looking forward to electricity driven cars, scooters, rickshaws etc but we are not bothering to ensure that the adequate provisions are being made. Owing to the industrial shutdown, the daily wagers and labourers too had been rendered jobless for as many days and the government must at least think about their plight”, the association members made some more points.