Chandigarh, September 16
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today held massive protests across the State against prolonged power cuts which they asserted had not only endangered the paddy crop but were causing misery to domestic consumers and had disrupted industrial operations.
Massive dharnas were held outside government offices including those of the deputy commissioner and the sub divisional magistrates as well as offices of chief engineers of Powercom and grid stations. They also witnessed SAD workers burning the effigies of chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
Senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia held a massive protest at Majithia during the course of which he held chief minister Bhagwant Mann solely responsible for the present power crisis. He said the chief minister was busy in propaganda exercises and left Punjabis to their fate. He said the present power outages, which were stretching up to twelve hours in a day, were affecting the very prosperity of Punjab.
SAD workers held a huge protest outside the Chief Engineer’s office at Shakti Sadan in Jalandhar. The protest, which was led by SAD urban president Iqbal Singh Dhindsa, witnessed party workers burning the effigies of Bhagwant Mann and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal. Dhindsa said the present crisis was a direct result of the mismanagement and poor planning of the AAP government. “The general public is deeply distressed by the AAP government is doing nothing to address the issue”, he asserted.
In Mohali, SAD workers staged a protest outside the deputy commissioner’s office during which they also burned the effigy of the chief minister. The protest was led by halka incharge Parvinder Singh Sohana and senior leader N K Sharma. The party put forward a five-point demand, seeking an immediate end to prolonged power cuts in villages and industrial areas, advance publication of power-cut schedules for each area, uninterrupted supply to industrial feeders, immediate replacement of faulty transformers and power lines, and an appropriate relief mechanism for consumers and industries affected by power cuts.
In Ropar, SAD senior leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema led a massive protest at the 132 KV grid. He said the crisis was affecting farmers, households and industry, with prolonged power cuts disrupting irrigation, daily life and industrial production. “Reports of industrial outages extending up to 14 hours underline the seriousness of the situation. The AAP-led Punjab Government cannot escape responsibility by offering excuses. It must urgently ensure reliable and uninterrupted power supply. We warn the government to either improve the power situation immediately or be prepared to face growing public anger across Punjab”, Dr Cheema asserted.
Reports from Kotkapura said a massive dharna was organized in front of the SDM office by party workers led by Mantar Singh Brar and Sher Singh Mand. The leaders warned the government that in case uninterrupted power was not restored to facilitate paddy irrigation immediately they would broadbase their protest.
Reports of protests were also received from Patiala, Bathinda, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran,Hoshiarpur, Nawansheher and Kapurthala districts.