(Chd,Pb)Situation ‘Critical’, Punjab Being Pushed For Blackout
The state electricity board in Punjab announced that it would have to impose power cuts of at least two-three hours from Tuesday evening as three private thermal plants have shut down and two electricity stations nearly running out of coal.
Coal supplies to the thermal power plants were severely affected after the Railways suspended the operation of freight trains in the wake of the blockade of some tracks by farmers in protest against the three central farm laws.
Private utility GVK Power has announced that it would close down operations at 3 pm on Tuesday since coal stocks had completely run out. Two other private thermal plants — Nabha Power at Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo in Mansa — have already shut down their operations due to coal shortage.
Two state-owned utilities — Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar power plants — also have coal for just one or two days
At present, the demand for electricity in the state stands at 6,000 megawatts against a supply of 5,000 MW from other central sectors, hydro and biomass, leading to a shortage of 1,000 MW.
Several farmer outfits had announced a fortnight ago to ease their rail blockade by allowing the movement of goods trains in the state. However, members of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) continued to squat on two rail tracks that are used for coal supplies to two private thermal plants at Rajpura and Mansa.
Protesters under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee are also sitting on a rail track in Amritsar.