Residents of this town in north Kashmir are up in arms against Power Development Department (PDD) over long and unscheduled power cuts for the past more than 20 days.
A group of residents of Ziangeer area said they were facing unscheduled power cuts during peak hours in the evening, resulting in inconveniences.
A local said Zaingeer belt comprises of around 30 villages, but the whole area has been neglected by the PDD. We hardly receive power supply for few hours during a day,” he said.
The residents said the PDD was not following the curtailment schedule announced by it earlier. “The students are preparing for different exams, but the pesky power cuts, particularly during evening and night hours disturb their preparation schedule,” said Muzaffar Ahmad, a resident of Batpora.
He said the winter was yet to start and the department has already resorted to unscheduled power cuts. “We can imagine the situation we are going to face during winter months,” he said.
President Economic Alliance Sopore, Haji Muhammad Ashraf Ganaie lamented the frequent power cuts faced by people in several areas. He said the administration should take immediate notice of the issue instead of forcing people to hit streets.
“The business in this town also gets hit due to erratic power supply. We appeal the authorities to look into the matter. We have no other option than to hit streets if the issue is not addressed at an earliest,” he said.
Executive Engineer PDD, Sopore Tariq Maqbool put the blame on people for frequent power cuts. “People use electric heaters, boilers and other appliances due to which they face power cuts. The department will issue new curtailment schedule soon for these areas,” he said.