Power outage in Chandigarh as electricity employees go on strike; hospitals, industries affected

Sources in the electricity department told The Indian Express that the situation may remain the same for at least the next two days.

The UT Powermen Union, comprising around 1,000 electricity employees, began a 72-hour strike Monday night, protesting against the privatisation of the UT electricity department. Officials have not ruled out the possibility of deliberate power disruption by the employees before going on the strike.

“I have not faced such a situation in my long career with GMCH-32. It is unexpected. The administration has failed to tackle the situation. We postponed all the elective surgeries,” a senior doctor at GMCH-32, said.

The most affected sectors are situated in the southern and eastern divisions, including Sectors 43, 44, 30, 33, 36, 27, 9, 53, 54, 56, village Kishangarh, Mani Majra and certain parts of Hallomajra. The residents blamed the Chandigarh administration for poor arrangements even though an advance ultimatum was given by the union about the strike.

Residents claimed that three helpline numbers set up Monday evening for receiving the complaints were not responding to the calls.

“Most of the industrial areas in phase 1 and 2 are facing blackouts since late last night. The officers are helpless in restoring the power in the affected areas. Hope they arrive at some solution for the next two days by the evening. To compensate for our production losses in the industry due to the strike, the electricity department must waive off one month’s bill. There is no alternative arrangement or back up, for power, as claimed by the UT electricity department”, Naveen Manglani, president, Chamber of Chandigarh Industries.

“We have been expecting that this problem will be here for at least 48 hours. We will investigate the reasons behind the power disruption. Strict action will be taken against the responsible person”, UT adviser Dharam Pal, said.

Meanwhile, Gopal Dutt Joshi, president, UT Powermen Union, said: “The speedy winds can be a reason behind the disruption of power in Chandigarh. We never disrupted the supply deliberately. The employees hired from MC and neighbouring Punjab, Haryana probably are not able to detect and correct the fault. We are on strike. Today we are holding a rally near Parade Ground in Sector 17.”

Political parties including Congress, AAP have already extended their support to the protesting union.