Jammu: J&K is reeling under an unprecedented power shortage forcing residents to take to streets against J&K power crisis. Amidst the unscheduled and prolonged power cuts in Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday, Congress leaders and workers led by JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla, General Secretaries Yogesh Sawhney, Manmohan Singh, Kanta Baan, Ex MLA Balwan Singh, JKPYC President Uday Bhanu Chib, Mahila Wing President Indu Pawar on Friday held a massive protest against the Manoj Sinha-led J&K administration for failure to address worst ever power crisis. Prominent among those present on the occasion include Gurdarshan Singh, Suresh Kr. Dogra, Swran Singh, Ex Youth President Parnav Sagotra, PCC Secretary Pawan Raina, Rajveer Singh, Sanjeev Panda, Satish Sharma, Vijay Singh Chib, Vandana Makhnotra, Arti Gupta, Sushma Choudhary, Hoshiar Singh, Satish Sharma, Corporator Dewarka Choudhary, Jatinder Singh Chib, Rajinder Jamwal, Thomas Khokhar, Chander Sheikhar Sharma, Atul Sharma, Dewan Chand, Janak Raj, Satpal Sapolia, Jatin Vashisht, Paras Ram Baloria, Gagan Bral, Pawan Bhagat, Tarshem Lal, Sahil Shavotra, Gopal Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Vishal Dhan, Deepak Jaallalu, Sunil Slathia, Raj Kamotea, Arid Malik, Om Parkash, Vijay Manash beside others. Congress leaders and workers holding placards raised slogans against LG Administration and Union Govt for leaving people in lurch amidst scorching heat. Meanwhile Police had tough time in controlling huge gathering despite deputed in good number as the protesters were heading towards Governor’s house following which PCC Working President Raman Bhalla and former Minister Yogesh Sawhney, General Secretary PCC Incharge District President Jammu (U) and General Secretary Manmohan Singh along with other Congress leaders, were detained by the J&K Police and held into custody.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla criticized the L-G Manoj Sinha-led functionaries over ‘failure’ to cope with the power crisis in the past several days forcing residents to take to the streets. He pinned the onus on the J&K administration and urged them to at least account for it, if not resolve the crisis. He said several towns and villages have been deprived of electricity for ten to twelve hours in the past 24 hours. He questioned the J&K administration for not opting for gas turbines, instead of coal-fired power plants. He blamed the J&K government for not doing enough to resolve the power crisis. “This is first time we are witnessing such a scenario in J&K,” said Bhalla . The power cuts have impacted the businessmen and industrial unit holders. This crisis has now entered in its third week.”Earlier, aggrieved people used to convey their problems to mainstream politicians and they would take complaints seriously. Now, bureaucrats are at the helm of affairs who aren’t bothered about the problems of locals,” he added. At several places, power crisis has even affected the potable water supply.
This deficit has forced corporation to go for unscheduled cuts. Bhalla came down heavily on the LG’s administration for the ‘worst power crisis’ and warned it to take immediate steps to improve the situation before it further worsens. He strongly castigated the LG’s administration for its ‘failure’ to cope with the situation of power crisis for the past several days in entire J&K, especially in the hot and arid Jammu region. He said this kind of situation is unprecedented and was never witnessed in the past. He drew the attention of the government to prolonged power cuts up to 14 hours in urban areas of Jammu and said that situation was ‘pathetic’ in rural areas.He also slammed the decision to impose water tax in rural areas where there was no regular and proper supply. With mercury crossing 42 degree Celsius mark and power playing hide and seek with domestic customers .BJP Govt is still in deep slumber .
Yogesh Sawhney and Manmohan Singh demanded from LG Manoj Sinha for looking into the problems so that people of J&K get some respite as they are getting power just for four to five hours in a day. This has also resulted in a water crisis in several areas. They also demanded for action against poor performing officials. Suggesting the administration to go for purchase of power like the governments in the past to overcome the crisis, they said the silence of the administration over the crisis was beyond the tolerance of the people who were reeling under rising mercury. The situation is very bad due to unscheduled power cuts and non-availability of water,” they said, requesting personal intervention of the Lt Governor to provide relief to the public.
Ex MLA Balwan Singh and Mahila Wing President Indu Pawar speaking on the occasion said that they have raised the issue of acute water and power shortage with the concerned departments time and again but no action is being taken which is very unfortunate,” they said. They said govt has no priority to ensure uninterrupted power and water supply to the consumers. Lakhs of gallons of water is leaked and wasted, while the water lifting pumps have not been upgraded for the past eight years,” they said, adding Govt should work overtime to fulfill the demands of both water and power supply. As the electricity supply has remained irregular with 12 to 14 hours long power cuts, the water supply, industrial sector and farmers and other sectors have adversely affected,” they said. They appealed to the administration to take immediate corrective measures to supply adequate electricity to the consumers.