Solve power crisis or we’ll hit the streets: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

GURUGRAM: Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday threatened to hit the streets if the power situation in the state did not improve soon.
“The people of Haryana have been hit hard by the acute power crisis in the state that has been caused by the short-sightedness of the anti-people BJP-JJP government,” Hooda said in Faridabad, where he participated in the Congress’s ongoing statewide programme,‘Vipaksh Apke Samaksh’.
A shortage of coal and lack of supply from private players, including Adani Power, has resulted in an electricity crisis across Haryana. The situation has prompted the discom to schedule 6.5 hours of daily outages in residential areas and for longer periods in industrial hubs. Residents, however, have alleged that the power cuts are exceeding the scheduled timings by far.
“During the Congress regime, we established four power plants and a nuclear facility in the state. We took the supply of electricity in Haryana from 4,000 MW to 11,000 MW. Even today, Haryana only requires a maximum 8,000-8,500 MW. But the current government has failed to provide electricity to the people even after eight years,” the senior Congress leader said.
“That is because the government has no foresight. They gave 750 MW from the Jharli plant in Haryana’s share to Delhi. Far from setting up new power plants, even the existing ones have stopped production. The government should release a white paper on the problems with electricity supply so that people know the truth. This government should solve the power crisis soon. Else, the Congress will come out on the streets and oppose it strongly,” he said.
Carrying on with the attack, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda said people were also yearning for basic facilities such as roads. “Roads in Faridabad are cratered to such an extent that it is difficult to even ride a motorcycle. BJP has made the Faridabad Nagar Nigam into a ‘Narak Nigam’. Everywhere, there are heaps of garbage. People have to even buy drinking water,” he said.
Deepender said BJP had turned Faridabad into ‘Fakirabad’. “This government has derailed the state from the tracks of development. During the Hooda government, the ESI Medical College was built in Faridabad at a cost of Rs 700 crore, the Badarpur flyover was constructed, and metro and four lane roads came up. In the last eight years, BJP has done nothing in Faridabad except dumping garbage and creating potholes on the roads,” he added.
The MP also raked up issues such as unemployment and inflation. “BJP has made Haryana number one in unemployment, inflation, crime, power cuts and corruption. From liquor scam to recruitment and mining frauds, from Gwal Pahari to the municipal corporation, scams are being executed one after the other,” he said.