Admin considering phased winter vacation, may start from primary classes this week: Div Com Kashmir

Srinagar, Nov 22: Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri announced on Wednesday that the government is considering issuing orders for a phased winter vacation, starting from primary schools this week, due to a sudden drop in temperatures.

"We are seriously considering it. I cannot say much on it right now. A formal announcement is expected soon," he said.

Kumar also maintained the government is equally concerned for the academic session not to suffer.

Regarding severe power outages reported across Kashmir, the Divisional Commissioner said that the early and intense onset of winter, coupled with reduced rainfall, has led to issues with generation capacity.

"The reported 4 to 6 hours for metered and 8 to 10 hours for non-metered outages are true on the ground. However, there are reasons for this – demand has surged suddenly, especially in flat-rate power areas where demand increases up to tenfold. We are compelled to implement distress cuts to preserve the transmission setup," he said.

Kumar also revealed that a government committee for additional power purchase has been formed, assuring that improvements in power supply will be witnessed within a week at the maximum.
"Unscheduled power cuts are painful, and I acknowledge that. We are actively addressing this issue. I hope things will have improved significantly within a week. The Lieutenant Governor has also raised the matter with the central government, and we are diligently working on it as a priority to ensure enhanced power supply," he added.

Furthermore, he appealed to the public to use power judiciously and refrain from using crude heating gadgets.