8-hour power cuts come into force, veggie growers hit

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, April 17

Powers cuts extending up to eight hours daily to prevent short circuits, which often result in farm fires, have begun in the rural areas.

Though farm unions had asked Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to fix the transmission lines, the department has continued with the age-old practice of cutting off power supply.

In rural areas, power cuts come into the force at 10 am and supply resumes only after 6 pm.

Residents said as the mercury would rise, power supply would reduce further.

While the power cuts help in saving the wheat crop from accidental fires, vegetable growers and horticulturists were a harried lot. “The vegetable and fruit crops require two irrigations per week. However, as the power is supplied only during the night, it has become difficult for the growers to irrigate their crops,” said Harman Singh, a farmer.

The residents complained that absence of electricity throughout the day forces them to complete all their chores during the night.

Harpinder Singh, another resident, said, “Power outages are frequent even during night.”

The residents said they would face hardships for the next four weeks and children and elderly persons would also face the brunt.

Locals said the PSPCL should fix transmission lines ahead of the wheat harvesting season and end the practice of imposing long power cuts during harvesting.