People of the summer capital have expressed resentment against unscheduled power cuts from the past several days.
The aggrieved residents told Good Morning Kashmir that KPDCL is resorting to power cuts in the areas where smart meters have been installed.
Sulaiman Shah, a resident of Lal Bazar, said that for the past many days, they are facing unscheduled power cuts.
“Our area is fully metered but the frequent shutdowns have made life miserable of the people residing here in Lal Bazar. The concerned official has put his mobile on do not disturb mode,” he said.
The locals from the Bemina said that they have been equally suffering due to unscheduled power cuts for the past few weeks.
“We have been facing major power cuts for the past few weeks. Every winter, the power department is claiming load shedding as the reason for power cuts and every winter we are facing the same issues,” said Ashiq Ahmad, a local resident.
The situation is not different in Rambagh, Parraypora, Nowgam, and other parts of the City. “In the past couple of days, power cuts turned into a nightmare. It has affected our routine work,” said Aadil Manzoor, a resident of Rambagh.
The consumers allege that the situation has gone from bad to worse during the past few weeks. They added that power cuts are more frequent and extended during the evening hours.
Shahid Kamili, president Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir said that the current power scenario has escalated the loss of industrialists.
“The impact of the current power scenario on the industrial sector is beyond imagination. We have limited hours of work during winter seasons and the absence of electricity is complicating our problems,” he said.
While Kamli said that 75 percent decline in production is reported by the industrial sector, he added many industries are on the verge of turning into Non-Performing Assets.
“When there is no output, the industries won’t bear the shock of reporting spontaneous losses. The industrialists are working on cost-competitiveness. The industrialists are failing to manage installments for loans,” he said.
Principal Secretary, Power Development Department (PDD), H. Rajesh Prasad, Monday reviewed the power supply position in J&K and asked the engineers to strictly follow the schedule, emphasizing that no unscheduled power cuts shall be tolerated. He also stressed that under no circumstances should J&K engage in overdrawal of power, which is important not only to stay within the budget but also to uphold grid discipline and prevent unwarranted disruptions in power supply.
Principal Secretary issued explicit instructions to the engineers to put an all out effort to eradicate the menace of power pilferage by adopting stringent enforcement measures. He asked to maintain regular power supply in areas where people are regularly paying for their consumption, whereas in high loss areas, measures like metering and AB cabling be taken on priority.
Principal Secretary noted with deep concern that despite dispatching more energy to the valley during this year compared to previous year, there has not been much improvement in the revenue realization. As such, he directed the concerned officers to ensure that the bills are timely generated and distributed to the consumers. He also directed that the power outages be attended promptly and faults be cleared with minimum downtime particularly the damaged Distribution Transformers (DT) be replaced in shortest possible time to avoid any inconvenience to people.
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