(Balwinder S Bhundur says if this is the change AAP promised then Punjab’s agri and industrial economy will be completely destroyed)
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said the Delhi Model had electrocuted Punjab with Punjabis, who had been promised round the clock power supply, facing eighteen hour power cuts at the onset of the summer season.
In a statement here, senior SAD leader Balwinder Singh Bhundur said “if this is the change AAP promised, then it will only lead to the destruction of the State’s agriculture and industrial economy and cause untold hardship to the common man”.
He said the breakdown also proved that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government did not have any vision document to make the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) self sufficient and had befooled Punjabis with the promise of round the clock assured power supply.
Asking chief minister Bhagwant Mann to review the power situation immediately and set his house in order, Mr Balwinder Bhundur said earlier Punjab’s power sector was one of the best in the country. “The State also achieved the distinction of becoming power surplus during the SAD led government of S Parkash Singh Badal.
The State’s utility was ranked as the best in the country. It is a sad day that the situation has become such that Punjabis are suffering eighteen hour power cuts in rural areas and even urban areas are without power for eight hours at a stretch”.
Asserting the need to plan ahead, the senior SAD leader said in case the government did not make necessary arrangements in time, the entire paddy crop could be endangered. He said even now potato growers as well as those cultivating vegetables were facing huge losses as they were forced to rely on diesel generators to irrigate their fields.
“Non availability of power is not allowing farmers to grow alternative crops”. Asserting that normal life had also been disrupted in both rural and urban areas, Mr Bhundur said drinking water supply has also been disrupted in many areas due to unscheduled power cuts.
“In urban areas diesel gensets which had disappeared earlier due to assured power supply, have made a comeback”. He said the industrial sector, which was trying to make a comeback after being in the doldrums earlier due to the Covid pandemic, had also been severely affected due to unscheduled power cuts”.
Mr Bhundur also asked the chief minister to make arrangements to ensure twelve hours uninterrupted power supply to rural areas during the paddy cultivation season as well as ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the heavy industry including induction furnaces.
