Srinagar July 10 : Amid soaring temperature, Kashmiris are facing tough times due to abrupt power cuts.
Kashmir is facing power cuts at a time when recently Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha assured the people of Jammu division that a committee will be constituted by the chief secretary to enquire into the recent unscheduled power outage in various areas.
Heat wave continues across Kashmir as many areas of the valley, including the summer capital Srinagar, records above 34 degree Celsius temperature.
At the same time, on Saturday, electricity remained cut off for the whole day in Srinagar’s Shalimar, Harwan and Nishat areas, bringing huge inconveniences to people.
People are criticising the department for resorting to power cuts amid the hot weather conditions.
“As electricity was off today, my 12-year-old fell unconscious today. Nobody is concerned about us and is more concerned about people of other region,” said Mohammad Aslam, a resident of Shalimar said.
In Jammu, several meetings were held to plan on preventing erratic electricity supply in the Jammu division.
Mohammad Subhan, a resident of Zakura said they get less than 10-hour power supply during the day. “We don’t know when the electricity will go off,” he said.
“It brings immense inconvenience to the students when studying in rooms without any cooling arrangements. Small children are the worst affected and many fall unconscious due to scorching heat. They feel physically uncomforted and lead to mental stress to the students,” a doctor at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital said.
Like Shalimar, Zakura, downtown areas of Srinagar are among the worst as they reel under a spate of power cuts.
Mohammad Amin, a resident of Khanyar said there are atleast 10 power cuts of around 6-hours in a day.
“Every year we are assured of better power supply but the situation instead worsens. The administration seems more focused on the Jammu region where even Lieutenant Governor recently took a serious note over abrupt power cuts,” he said.
The unprecedented power cuts have also left hundreds of oxygen-dependent COVID-19 patients on edge.
“My brother had acute bilateral pneumonia. He was discharged from hospital last week and the doctor advised to be on round-the-clock oxygen. We face abrupt power cut during the day and erratic supply at night which put him in a risk,” said Kaisar Ahmad, a resident of Khanyar.
A senior official of the Power Development Department said they were trying to provide 24×7 power supply to the residents. (KINS)
