Many residential and industrial parts of the city faced major power outages as employees of the Electricity Department went on a three-day strike from Monday night in protest against the privatization of the department. Lakhs of Chandigarh residents were left without power and water since Monday midnight.
The most affected areas in Chandigarh are Sector-22-A, 35-A, 35-B, 43, Moulijagran, Vikas Nagar, Molly Pind, 44, 45-C, 45, Sector 30, 42-B, 52, 53, 53, 56, 41A, 63, 50, Kishangarh, 28-D, 37, 38, 38 (West), 27 and many parts of Manimajra. Some areas are not having a power supply for the past 20-22 hours.
The biggest ever blackout not only impacted lakhs of homes but also caused problems for hospitals where patients may be on ventilators and other life support systems. Apart from this, online examinations and classes of students are also going on in the city, street lights are also not working and water supply is also affected.
Chandigarh resident, Rakesh said, “Why the government is so incompetent? Nobody was picking phones on helpline numbers. Why are powermen not shutting supply to babus and ministers?”
Chandigarh Administrator BL Purohit has banned the strike of electricity workers for 6 months. These orders have been issued under the powers conferred under subsection 3 of the East Punjab Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1968. This is an essential service. In such a situation, it will be in the public interest to end the strike and it is necessary to end the strike. The Administrator has issued orders in this regard on behalf of Dharam Pal, Advisor to the Administrator.