Unscheduled power cuts pester City

Srinagar, Aug 1: Amid one of the harshest summers in recent memory, residents across Srinagar are fuming over frequent and erratic power outages in Srinagar. The residents said that most of these are being blamed on ongoing maintenance activities like branch cutting, cable laying, meter installation and other development work.

The aggrieved said that this summer with daytime temperatures crossing 37°C, power department did not shy away from these cuts. The locals are now appealing authorities to streamline the process to ensure least inconvenience.

“What kind of maintenance takes years. The notice of day long shutdowns kept on appearing online since last year now. Every week there is some cable installation or branch cutting going on, and we are left to roast indoors without fans or coolers.” Said Faiq Ahmad, a local from downtown.

The locals said that from the congested lanes of old Srinagar to the outskirts like Hazratbal and Nishat, residents say the pattern has become all too familiar. They said unannounced outages have become a headache.

“During the peak summer, when the temperatures crossed 37 we had half to day long cuts in Hazratbal outskirts. We are all for the development and maintenance of infrastructure but this should be done in micro shifts so that we don’t face inconvenience,” said Basit Ahmad, a local from Hazratbal.

Residents said that carrying out prolonged maintenance work during the hottest days of summer is not just insensitive but also dangerous.

“In homes with elderly or critically ill patients, even short interruptions in electricity can be life-threatening,” said another local.

Greater Kashmir did a series of stories on the issue. An official from KPDCL said power cuts are done following necessary maintenance.

“We are resorting to minimal maintenance cuts and only when it is unavoidable. There is a proper protocol followed and we keep the shutdown window as minimum as possible,” said an official.