Mohali (Punjab): Police in Punjab on Saturday registered cases against 23 Aam Admi Party (AAP) leaders, including Harpal Cheema, and the party's state president Bhagwant Mann for leading a protest outside Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's private residence - Siswan Farm House in Mohali against the power shortage in the state. They also clashed with the police following which police used water cannons to disperse the party workers.
AAP blamed both the Congress and the Akali Dal for the current power crisis in the state. Frequent power outages in the state have been affecting small and medium-scale agricultural industries in the state.
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A Venu Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary (Taxation) and Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, said the failure of private-run thermal plants to provide committed supply during the peak season has resulted in the power shortage situation in the state. The delayed monsoon has also caused severe power outages in the state, he told a seminar here, adding that once the rain comes, the situation would improve. Work from home and air conditioning demand has also increased significantly in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the official said. Normally, we make arrangements up to 12,500 MW, but this year, keeping these problems in view, we made arrangements for 13,500 MW, he added.
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Earlier, Chief Minister Singh ordered changes in the timings of power cuts in state government offices and cut down the power supply to high energy-consuming industries with immediate effect. He also appealed to all government offices to make judicious use of electricity as demand for power in the state had touched 14,500 MW.
