Srinagar, Aug 16: At a time when people are finding it hard to beat the summer heat, the nocturnal power cuts are adding to their woes. For the past few days, non-metered areas apart, even the metered colonies reel under darkness at night.
 Since past week, residents of most of the metered colonies like Bemina suburb said they spend nights counting stars as the power goes off at around 12:00 AM till morning.
 “In the absence of fan, I haven’t been able to sleep for past few days. If this is the ill state of power distribution when the government is here, what will be the plight in winters when the Durbar shifts to Jammu?,” argued Nissar Khan of Hamza Colony Bemina.
 Many like Nissar accused the government of failing even to provide basic amenities like power to the City dwellers.
 “Power comes first in the priority list of Bijli, Sadak and Paani, which any democratic setup is expected to deliver,” he said.
 To mention, the nocturnal curtailments in metered areas belie the government assurance of uninterrupted power supply.
 As about consumers from non- metered areas, they complained the curtailment has worsened.
 Said Rouf Ahmed of Chattabal: “Till a fortnight ago, there used to be just once a week power curtailment during night, but for now, we face the curtailment everyday.”
 Rouf prefers to spend the night on Veranda of his house.
 But those living in the proximity of high security areas like Kalai Ander, near the Central Jail said, they were “literally being put to suffocation.”
 “Given the fear of being targeted by men in uniform, as has happened in the past, we prefer to stay indoors than to move out for some breeze and get killed,” Sajad said.
 Sources in Power development Department said there was shortage of power resources which force the department to go for unscheduled cuts.
 Despite repeated attempts, the PDD officials couldn’t be contacted for comment.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 IST