Powerless for 5 days, Salem Tabri residents protest against PSPCL

Shivani Bhakoo

Ludhiana, July 25

Residents from street 3, 4 and 5 in the New Ashok Nagar, Salem Tabri, sat on a dharna today for over four hours to protest against the lackadaisical approach of the PSPCL as for the past five days, there is no power in the area. Residents rued that the PSPCL had failed to restore power for the past five days in the area.

Talking to The Tribune, Gurdev Singh, a local resident, said he was a labourer and residents of the area were facing hardships in the absence of power in this hot and humid weather. “How can officials be so callous? Had it been in some posh area or VIP locality, the power would have restored after some time. But here, we all come from humble backgrounds and this is the reason no attention is being paid towards our plight,” he said.

Another resident, Hardeep Singh, said in such a situation, children were not able to go to schools as water was also not available. “We have no water to cook food or drink. How can we ask our wards to go to school when they have not taken bath for the past two-three days? In the absence of power, we cannot use pumps to get water,” he said.

The residents said they had visited the office of local MLA Madan Lal Bagga but to no avail.

“The MLA has given an assurance that the problem will be rectified soon but it is not resolved so far. We are staying in a miserable condition,” said another resident.

Over 200 persons from affected parts of the area sat on a dharna, protesting against the department for not paying attention to the issue. The residents said it was not possible for residents, especially small children, to stay at home without power in the present humid weather conditions. Housewives are also facing problems in cooking food and doing household chores without power and water, they said.

Meanwhile, many parts of the city have been getting erratic power supply. Residents of HIG Flats, Ghumar Mandi, also complained that there was no electricity in their area for over three hours due to some fault in power cables. Annu, a homemaker, said during these few months, the demand for power increases. “The authorities should look into the matter in the remaining part of the year and rectify the issue permanently so that residents did not face inconvenience in these months. Life becomes miserable without power in such a humid weather,” she said.