Srinagar, Apr 23 : Several political parties have expressed anguish over the ongoing power crisis particularly during the holy month of Ramadhan and urged the government to take immediate steps in this direction.
People’s Democratic Front
Chairman Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Front (J&KPDF) and former Minister Hakeem Mohammed Yaseen has urged the administration to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the last 10 days (Ashra) of holy month of Ramdhan.
In a statement issued to the media, Hakeem said the administration failed to stick with its own power curtailment schedule during holy Ramdhan and resorted to untimely power cuts across the Valley due to which people faced inconvenience.
“Even in most parts of Kashmir, including summer capital Srinagar, people were left reeling under darkness even on the imperative timings of Sehri and Iftar, which is very unfortunate. The power curtailment hours are more than the power supplied hours,” he said.
The senior leader said the situation is different as compared to past years, and there are more prolonged and unscheduled power cuts being reported across Kashmir.
National Conference
National Conference General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar on Saturday expressed concern over the unprecedented power crises in J&K, saying the massive and recurrent power cuts have dampened the spirit of Ramadhan.
One of the worst power crises in Kashmir has left residents upset with outages ranging from 8-10 hours per day in the month of Ramzan, said Sagar while running the hours-long outages in Jammu and Kashmir. “The situation runs contrary to the claims made by the incumbent administration about availability of 24×7 power supply in metered areas,” he said.
CPI (M)
CPI (M) has said the extended and unannounced power outages are causing immense hardships to people of Jammu and Kashmir. While urban areas are witnessing power cuts up to nine hours, many outlying villages have been reeling under almost sheer darkness since several months.
The precarious power situation is in marked contrast to the Lieutenant Governor’s recent announcement that the metered areas would receive seamless electricity round the clock.
It is very unfortunate that despite having huge potential to generate copious amount of electricity, Jammu and Kashmir has to face the worst power crises often.
The region has a potential to generate the commercial hydro power up to 20000 MW out of which only 3263.4 MW stands harnessed by various agencies including Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation, NHPC and Independent Power Producers.
Apni Party
Apni party leader Er Nazir Yatoo in a statement said unscheduled power cuts make the lives of people of tehsil Chadoora miserable durring Iftar and sahri time ,which expose the mere slogans of government.
Er Yatoo appealed LG government to make to supply proper power to Chadoora tehsil so that the people do not suffer.