J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Kharar residents protest against power cuts, block highway
Kharar, July 19
Miffed at unscheduled power cuts, local residents blocked the highway late tonight. They came on to the road in large numbers at about 10 pm and sat on dharna, disrupting traffic.
Kharar residents block the highway to Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

Farmers detain Powercom teams
Tarn Taran, July 19
Farmers under the banner of the Kisan Sangarash Committee (KSC) detained teams of the Powercom officials in Jauneke village near Harike and in Kotli village (Valtoha). The teams were on their routine duty to check the load of the tubewells motors of the farmers when the farmers detained them.

Congress opposes power tariff hike
Amritsar, July 19
Opposing the unscheduled power cuts and spurt in the power tariff, local Congress workers held a dharna and burnt the effigy of the ruling government in front of the office of the XEN Punjab State Power Corporation at Mall Mandi here today.

Kharar residents protest against power cuts, block highway
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Kharar, July 19
Miffed at unscheduled power cuts, local residents blocked the highway late tonight. They came on to the road in large numbers at about 10 pm and sat on dharna, disrupting traffic. They claimed they had been without power for past 15 hours.

The protesters were led by Ravinder Saini, president of the local BJP unit. He said the people were fed up with the power cuts.

"Adding insult to injury, nobody in the power department takes our calls whenever there is a power cut. We regret the inconvenience to commuters but this is the only way to make the authorities listen to us," said Saini.

Bhupinder Singh, SDO, was seen pleading with the protesters but in vain. "It's an everyday story and we want a permanent solution," the protesters insisted. The blockade led to a six-km-long jam on both sides of the highway. Residents of Balongi village also joined the protest alleging that they were getting power for a couple of hours only. 

Farmers detain Powercom teams
Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, July 19
Farmers under the banner of the Kisan Sangarash Committee (KSC) detained teams of the Powercom officials in Jauneke village near Harike and in Kotli village (Valtoha). The teams were on their routine duty to check the load of the tubewells motors of the farmers when the farmers detained them.

The members of the teams were detained at about 12 noon and the detention continued till the filing of the report.

Kawalpreet Pannu, state convener of the KSC, while addressing the farmers at Kotli village, said the farmers had been demanding the restoration of voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) regarding increasing power load for long.

Pannu warned that the farmers would not allow the officials to check the load of their tubewells unless their demand was met.

Shelindera Singh Shally DSP (Headquarter) along with police force reached Hauneke village and started a series of talks with the farmers. 

Congress opposes power tariff hike
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 19
Opposing the unscheduled power cuts and spurt in the power tariff, local Congress workers held a dharna and burnt the effigy of the ruling government in front of the office of the XEN Punjab State Power Corporation at Mall Mandi here today.

Addressing the gathering, senior Congress leader and ex-MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa lambasted the government for its inability to provide electricity even for eight hours a day and also condemned the increase in electricity tariff arbitrarily.

“The tariff hike is not justified as the common man is already feeling the pinch of inflation,” he said. Congress workers said if the government did not roll back the hike or streamline its power supply, they would intensify their agitation and also announced to gherao the Deputy Commissioner’s Office.