Chandigarh power outage: Network connectivity, hospitals impacted

Chandigarh electricity department has launched a protest against the privatisation of the department. Due to the protest of the employees, many parts of the UT have witnessed hours-long power cuts. 

Director General of Cellular Operators' Association of India, Lt Gn Dr SP Kochhar said that the power outage has impacted telecom towers too and disrupted mobile connectivity. “Owing to the strike by the Union of Employees in the Electricity Department of Chandigarh, there have been instances of power outages in parts of the city. This has impacted telecom towers, which is leading to disruption in mobile network connectivity in impacted areas. Telecom operators & Infrastructure providers are taking all measures to power their sites, exchanges etc. by using alternate sources batteries, DGs, solar panels etc. in the absence to EB supply in some areas,” he said.

Chandigarh citizens have taken to social media to state that there has been no electricity in their parts of the town for nearly 36 hours. 

TR Dua Director-General of Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) said that they have requested the Administrator of Chandigarh, Banwarilal Purohit to resolve the crisis on a war footing and make necessary arrangements to provide electricity supply on mobile communication tower sites for seamless network connectivity. 

The outage since Monday night forced government hospitals in the union territory to reschedule elective surgeries, besides adversely affecting residential, industrial and commercial areas in the city. Though officials of the Chandigarh administration claimed necessary arrangements were being made to maintain continuity of power supply, residents and traders in many areas of the city complained of outages. 

Industrial production and manufacturing at some units in the city were also hit by the power disruption. Traffic lights at some intersections were also non-functional because of the outage. 

President of the union Dhian Singh said they are protesting against the privatisation of the electricity department that would lead to change in service conditions, and also lead to a rise in power tariffs. 

The Chandigarh administration on Tuesday evening invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act, banning strikes by the electricity department for six months. The Punjab and Haryana High court took suo motu notice of the crisis, and asked the union territory chief engineer to appear before it on Wednesday. 

(With agency inputs)

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