Consumers aghast over unscheduled power cuts in Srinagar areas

Srinagar, Jan 28: Unscheduled power cuts are pestering residents from various areas of the summer capital.

People in these areas say that for the past few weeks, the unscheduled power cuts have taken a toll on their daily work.

The residents from multiple Srinagar localities said that there is no respite in power cuts in their areas, causing huge inconvenience to them. Greater Kashmir received complaints about power cuts from residents of various Uptown and Downtown areas. They said amid sub-zero temperatures, there are huge power cuts that add to their misery. Similar complaints were received from the consumers of Hazratbal outskirts.

“We come under the jurisdiction of Burzahama receiving station that feeds over a dozen areas of Hazratbal outskirts. Despite our tariffs being hiked just this month, there is no respite in power cuts. In the name of maintenance, we are deprived of uninterrupted power supply,” Ashiq Ahmad, a local, said.

The consumers from Nowhatta and adjoining areas of Downtown said that they are also suffering due to power cuts. These consumers said that due to the issue, studies of their children and other household work are taking a hit.

“Patients at home are also facing issues as they can’t operate nebulisers, oxygen concentrators due to unscheduled power cuts,” said Ajaz Ahmad, a resident of Gojwara.

Executive Engineer Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation, Lenin Kumar Kundu, said that power cuts are relatively more in unmetered areas as compared to metered ones. “Once these areas come under the ambit of smart meters, there will be an uninterrupted power supply.”

“People are also using power more than the agreed load officially. At times, for a few minutes, there are beyond the scheduled cuts because we have to see the overall load of power and accordingly balance the system. We have recently bought many feeders under 24/7 power supply, and we will continue to do so where possible,” Kundu said.