Pakhowal (Ludhiana), July 16
Upset over the erratic power supply, unscheduled and long power cuts, the residents of many villages protested outside the office of the Assistant Superintending Engineer, Punjab State Electricity Board, Pakhowal today.
The farmers, accompanied by womenfolk staged a dharna, took out a rally and raised slogans against the PSEB and the state government. They said the power supply for the agriculture sector in these villages was not more than six hours and that too was not continuous.
In the domestic sector also the supply was not for more than six hours — two to three hours during the day and not more than that during night time. They said while the crops were wilting as the fields had dried up and their families were also inconvenienced due to the shortage of power.
Farmers further said the weather gods were playing very cruel to them and the PSEB too was not doing any good for them. They said the farmers were already debt-ridden and the prevailing scenario in the state would spell doom for them.
Mr Jagdish Lal, a flour mill owner said that his business had gone down as there was no power. He said while the future of farmers seemed to be bleak this year, the non-farmers were also inconvenienced.
Mr Bachan Singh, a farmer of Dango village, said there was no power supply for more than six hours everyday. At times the voltage was so low that the motors did not work at all.
