Unscheduled Power Cuts
Delayed rains to blame: PSEB
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 21
Amidst worsening power situation for domestic urban and rural consumers and prolonging power cuts in the state, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has claimed that it has been giving eight hour “uninterrupted” power supply to farmers since June 10.

What has perturbed both domestic rural and urban consumers was that despite PSEB managements’ earlier pre-poll promises that people of Punjab would not face any power cuts, people were reportedly made to bear eight to 12-hour long power cuts in different areas of Punjab.

The PSEB, however, has now attributed the situation to shortfall of rain in the southern states.

Harinder Singh Brar, chairman, Punjab State Electricity Board, has said that the board has been supplying eight hours uninterrupted power supply to farmers since June 10. He said the AP consumers have been divided into four groups and in each group the circles of various zones have been included. He said in first group Khanna, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Nawanshahr circles were included.

In the second group, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Sangrur circles, in the third group Faridkot, Amritsar, Muktsar, Mohali, Gurdaspur and Ropar circles and in the fourth group Patiala, Bathinda and Kapurthala circles have been included. He said these groups had been formed in such a way that there was equal load on transmission lines all over Punjab.

Brar further informed that there had been deficient rainfall in southern states and the relief, which the northern region used to get from southern states in these days of summer, was absent this time.

The board authorities added that due to increase in load of every state due to high temperature, the frequency of grid was hovering near 49Hz, which favourably should be near 50Hz. As a result, additional unscheduled power cuts are being imposed all over Punjab. Every effort is being made to impose equal cuts on all categories of consumers across the state. He said there was no discrimination to any category and power cuts were being imposed even in the PSEB colonies, including Power Colony No. 1 at Patiala, where members and chairman of the board resided.

He further said to bridge the gap between demand and supply, PSEB had to increase weekly-off on Arc Induction Furnace from two to three days and on category-II feeders from 33-hour to 48-hour. He said these restrictions would be in force up to June 30, which would be reviewed thereafter.

Engineer (Generation) of the PSEB GS Sra said both the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabat and Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, were running to full capacity.