Srinagar Sept 15: The unit holders at the Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) Lassipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday flayed a recent diktat by the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) to disconnect their power supply and demanded a power waiver from the J&K government in view of the losses incurred by them due to back-to-back lockdowns.
The unit holders-around six hundred in number- have been bearing the brunt of the unfavourable situation in the valley since the devastating floods of 2014 and then the valley-wide shutdown in 2016, Financial Secretary of the Industrial Association Lassipora, Sarwar Malik told Greater Kashmir.
Malik said that the recent COVID-19 lockdown and the still prevalent pandemic had further added to the financial crisis of the unit holders.
Notwithstanding the unit holders’ financial distress, the Power Department has been “harassing” the industrialists on account of non-payment in the power liabilities, Malik alleged.
The Executive Engineer Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited, O&M Division Pulwama on September 11 directed the concerned officials to disconnect the power connections of the government installations having liabilities of over Rs 1 lakh within ten days’ notice period and private connections within a week of notice period.
Malik said that the industrialists were still in a “shock” due to the bank liabilities of previous lockdowns and the prevailing pandemic and recent lockdown and were not in a position to pay the dues at once.
“Instead of giving any relief to industrialists in terms of power amnesty or other interest and penalty waivers, the department is more concerned about collection of revenue, ” Malik alleged.
The unit holders appealed to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to announce a special bailout package with more focus on power amnesty so that industrialists at IGC Lassipora get some time to recover from the ongoing crisis.
They also urged President FCIK to intervene and come up with a solution for stressed industrialists at IGC Lassipora.
The unit holders said that the PDD’s recent order will bring the establishments to a grinding halt and hit the livelihood of thousands of over 11,000 skilled and unskilled workers associated with them.