Bathinda/Fatehgarh Sahib, Feb 3
Punjab reeled under a major power disruption today with two out of the four units of the Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant going out of order resulting in a daily shortfall of more than one hundred lakh units.

The disruption had its effect on the industry with the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) increasing power cuts for induction furnace plants and other units.

A report from Bathinda said one of the units of Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant tripped on Tuesday. Another unit has been out of operation since January 16. The latter was shut down to prepare the plant to run at its maximum capacity during the coming paddy season. It has been shut down for a 45-day period.

However, PSPCL plans went awry when the second 210-MW unit suffered a technical snag on Tuesday. The snag was still to be corrected till late Thursday evening. Plant chief engineer RPS Saini said, “It was an unfortunate incident and we are doing our best but it may take some time to put things in place.” He said sensing the gravity of the situation, the engineers had been asked to speed up the overhauling of unit-I so that it could start generation at the earliest.

Meanwhile, a report from Ropar said the two-day power cut imposed on induction furnaces has been increased to three days in a week. The general industry will now face a two-day power cut. Already reeling under scheduled power cuts, the input cost in these industries has gone up, leaving the industrialists fuming. State Induction Furnace Association president Mahinder Gupta said that power cuts had severely hampered industry operations.

Meanwhile, XEN Fatehgarh Sahib AS Gill said that the cut had indeed been extended owing to severe power shortage.