Power Pangs: Govt has no short-term solution
Four new projects to be set up
Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, September 22
The power crisis is here to stay. There is no short-term solution available with the state government to plug the huge gap between the demand and availability of power, especially during the paddy season when power has to be supplied to the farmers for their crops.

Talking to mediapersons today after laying the foundation stone of a 100-acre new colony Crown Town at Lalton Kalan, about 10 km from here, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the government was following up the work on the four new power projects to be set up in the state. "Work has commenced on two projects and it will soon be taken up on the other two also.”

The Chief Minister denied that there were dissensions between the ruling coalition partners over the issue of giving subsidies to the urban and rural population. "We have set up a committee comprising Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and the Punjab Industries and Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia that will go into the issue of subsidies and all related matters like revival of octroi. The committee will submit its report in one month."