Power cuts cripple Punjab's rice mills during critical Basmati season

Power cuts paralyse Punjab rice mills; Opon. slams AAP over 'Roshan Punjab' promise

Disruption of electricity supply across Punjab has left rice millers unable to lift Basmati paddy arriving in market yards, creating chaos during the critical processing season, the Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association said.

The Association raised the alarm amid scheduled and unscheduled power cuts affecting the State.

Crisis deepens as paddy stocks pile up

In a letter to Punjab's Secretary Power, the Association noted that the unscheduled power cuts were crippling the rice milling and export industry in Punjab, which it said "have created serious crisis and distress among the Basmati growing farmers".

"Due to complete disruption of power supply, the rice millers are unable to lift the paddy, creating total chaos as they are unable to dry and process it," said Ashok Sethi, director of the Association.

Huge quantities of Basmati paddy are arriving daily and stocks are piling up in the markets in the Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Pathankot Gurdaspur districts and other areas, Sethi said. "The irregular and unscheduled power cuts during the ongoing paddy processing season have put the entire Industry in crisis," he said, urging the State government to immediately restore the situation to normal to avoid any catastrophic impact on farmers and rice exporters.

Power Minister cites shortfall from Centre

In a statement, Punjab Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said Punjab is currently receiving 1,051 MW less power against its share from the Central Power pool. The Centre should immediately provide Punjab its due share, he said.

Last month, the Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers Association (PSEBEA), in a letter to the Chief Minister, had warned the State government surrounding the imminent financial and power crisis facing the State's power sector.

Engineers' body had flagged looming shortage

Noting that the power sector of Punjab is facing an increasingly serious challenge of financial distress and power shortages, the PSEBEA had pointed out that the emerging power shortage is already affecting key sectors, including industry, agriculture and domestic consumers. The situation is likely to become significantly more critical in the coming years unless immediate steps are taken to augment generation capacity within the State, the Association had warned.

The PSEBEA had demanded a long-term plan for capacity addition, urging to treat augmentation of power generation capacity as an immediate and critical strategic priority.

Opposition attacks AAP over 'Roshan Punjab' promise

The Opposition accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of its complete failure to tackle the situation, which has left ordinary people struggling.

"Last year Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal launched their ₹5,000-crore 'Roshan Punjab' campaign and promised 24-hour uninterrupted power supply by 2026. Today, PSPCL is asking industries to accept 8.5 hours without power. From 24-hour uninterrupted power to please shoulder the burden, what happened to Roshan Punjab, Bhagwant Mann?," quipped Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly.

The Congress leader's remark came as he posted a message of PSPCL's Jalandhar distribution circle, which stated that "owing to an acute power grid scenario arising from widespread heatwave conditions and low rainfall across the country, immense pressure has built up on the transmission network. To prevent grid collapse, all Category 2 and Category 3 feeders are being switched off from 15:30 hrs to 24:00 hrs today," the message stated.

BJP leader alleges mismanagement

Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar also targeted the AAP government over the power situation, alleging that its mismanagement and financial handling of the state power corporation had contributed to the present electricity crisis.

"After the so-called 'advertised' revolutions in education and healthcare, the truth behind what he described as the AAP government's false electricity revolution had also been exposed," he said.

Source: The Hindu