PSPCL to get 14,500mw of power from national grid

Ludhiana: With the arrival of summer, there are increasing instances of power failure and unscheduled power cuts in the state. To overcome this shortage, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has recently signed a purchase agreement for 14,500mw of power supply with the national grid and power sub-station, so that industrialists and farmers — who require uninterrupted power — do not face any problems.

Moreover, the power corporation has prepared a concrete roadmap to deal with the increase in power consumption by farmers for sowing paddy crops in their fields from June 13 all across the state. The power corporation has decided to provide at least eight hours of uninterrupted power supply in Ludhiana district.

The PSPCL will provide eight-hour power supply in three different timing slots — in the first morning slot, they will cover periphery areas of the district, and supply power from 12 midnight to 8am by creating proper awareness among farmers. They will follow the same process to cover the rest of the day (8am to 4pm, and 4pm to 12 midnight) so that every area comes under eight-hour power supply.

PSPCL chief engineer (Ludhiana Division) Dr Daljit Inderpal Grewal stated: “To tackle the issues related to unscheduled power cuts in summer across city limits, PSPCL has done all necessary arrangements from establishing a help desk of the district in Focal Point to circulate proper guidelines among farmers who need excessive power supply in the paddy sowing days.”

The demand for power consumption in the district has reached almost three times as compared to the winter months of December and January. In the previous December and January, 2,419.23mw and 2,205.40mw was utilized across the district, while it was 4,594.01mw and 4,394.13mw in the previous July and August, (which is almost double that of winter demand).

The PSPCL has created a helpline number 1912 for residents to complain about power issues. Sources in the power corporation informed that cases of illegal connections and meter tampering rose sharply in the summer months because people wanted to consume huge amounts of electricity but pay much less than their actual bill.

Local industrialist Rajinder Verma said: “The helpline number circulated by PSPCL has remained non-functional most of the time because that is the only number which receives too many calls. So, PSPCL should start two or three more helpline numbers to deal with the large number of complaints they receive.”