Ludhiana, July 28
Technical snags in power generation leading to massive power cuts notwithstanding, the people of Punjab seem to be paying the price of lopsided high power consuming projects approved without measures to increase power generation in the state.
Power board sources reveal one multiplex was consuming power equivalent to the requirement of eight to 10 villages and many similar under-construction projects have power load equal to that of 15 villages. The wide gap between power demand and supply has widened after the malls have become functional, sources said.
Irony is that primary and secondary sectors, agriculture and the industry, the main contributors to the state’s treasury, are crying for power while malls and multiplexes are using it lavishly adding little to the state’s wealth.
Sources said though the PSEB was of the opinion any kind of development could not be stopped just because there was not adequate power available, still there was a growing demand to reduce their load or encourage the malls to have self-sufficient power supply.
As a remedial measure, the PSEB now has ordered 50 per cent reduction in the load of the malls and multiplexes. But the future of power availability in the state is not rosy with dozens of such projects awaiting PSEB nod.
The PSEB chief engineer, Ludhiana, said the demand-supply gap had increased a lot this year. “Giving a nod to the projects is a government policy matter. I can only comment that we have told malls to decrease load by 50 per cent as an immediate measure to tackle the shortage.”
A power board official said: “The multiplexes have high capacity generators, which they are using more often now because of power cuts. It seems they will have to make more arrangements in the near future as well.”
