AMBALA, May 26: Highway blockades, demonstrations, burning of effigies and raiding of complaint office of the Haryana State Electricity Board (HSEB) marked the expression of anger of the consumers in the past several days in the urban as well as rural areas in the district against the undeclared power cuts for longer periods in the scorching heat rendering the life of the people miserable.The expression of anger of the people came to surface when the residents including the women and children came out of their houses and laid blockade on the Ambala-Jagadhri road in front of the Civil Hospital and Mahesh Nagar Chowk, Ambala Cantonment at around 11 p.m. Earlier, the irate villagers from Mullana blocked the highway for about two hours in the evening leaving thousands of passengers stranded in their buses, cars and other vehicles. The passion were so high that they burnt the rubber tyres and other articles in front of the hospital to block the road. They raised anti-government and anti-HSEB slogans holding them responsible for the unprecedented failure of power supply system this summer.Similarly, the demonstrators indulged in damaging the public property on road at Mahesh Nagar most of them under influence of liquor. The agitated residents said that they were facing cuts lasting as long as six hours and also did not get drinking water supplying for the past 15 days since the power cut had rendered tubewells useless.According to reports reaching here, the agitators at Mullana turned violent, damaging the vehicles of travellers as the police personnel from the local police station were reduced to mere spectators.The protestors had felled the tress and had spread on the road to block all exit points for diversion of the routes. Later, on the intervention of SDM R. K. Garg, they lifted the blockade on the assurance that the Deputy Commissioner would personally look into the matter for restoration of the power supply.The residents of Ambala City also held demonstrations at Jagadhri Gate in front of the HSEB complaint office. A large number of housewives led by block MC Satish Sharma protested against power shortage at Baldev Nagar Chowk and later met the Superintending Engineer (Operation) G. R. Shamra who ordered replacement of the burnt transformer. Complaints of undeclared cuts from Naraingarh, Barara and other places were received by the board authorities against the officials not cooperating with the people.However, the board authorities here said that there was no possibility of improvement in the supply system since they were not getting adequate supply from the sources at Panipat Thermal Plants and Rehand Hydel Project (Himachal Pradesh). Local legislator Anil Vij said that with the commissioning of 33 KV power station at Ambala Cantonment, the power supply will improve. He said that he will meet HSEB Chairman Ranjit Issar for alternate arrangements to improve the supply.
