Punjab transfers PSPCL chief during power crisis

Chandigarh/Ludhiana, Sep 14 (PTI) Under fire from the opposition over power cuts, the Punjab government on Monday shifted Punjab State Power Corporation Limited chairman and managing director Basant Garg.

Garg, who is a 2005-batch IAS officer and administrative secretary (power), has been replaced by principal secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh.

Garg has been appointed as administrative secretary, industry and commerce and investment promotion, which were earlier held by Singh, according to an official order.

The AAP government has been facing criticism from the opposition parties over the unscheduled power cuts. Congress, Akali Dal and BJP have accused the Bhagwant Mann government of having failed in ensuring uninterrupted electricity, affecting farmers, industry and domestic consumers.

Farmers and industrialists have claimed prolonged power cuts.

Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond in Ludhiana on Monday claimed from 7 am on September 13, until now, no power cuts have been imposed in Punjab.

Along with this, continuous 24x7 electricity supply has been ensured and is currently running for all four major sectors residential, commercial, industrial, and agriculture, he said.

Sond said farmers have always been and will remain our top priority because Punjab is an agrarian state.

"Right now, the paddy season is going on, during which two of our private thermal plants recently developed technical snags. The entire in-house team of PSPCL worked day and night to make those plants operational again," he said.

He said Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has issued instructions that to cover up for the 2-3 hour power cuts, the state government is now giving two extra hours of electricity supply to farmers starting Sunday.

Another major observation was that in previous years during the month of September, electricity demand used to hover around 13,100 MW, but this year it touched 16,600 MW.

This meant an extra demand of 3,500 MW, he said.

The minister mentioned that over the last two to three days, he personally received calls from industrialists and farmer unions.

Sond said he has already explained three days ago in a press conference that this crisis arose partly due to coal supply cuts by the central government and partly because the Centre did not release Punjab's rightful 1,000 MW power share.

He commended the officials of the power department who worked day and night, fixed the technical glitches in the thermal plants, and brought them back online.

He added that good news also arrived regarding a private power plant from where the state buys electricity, as their unit has also started running and 100 MW of power supply has begun coming from it.