MC notice has Mohali powerless, sleepless

The 8216;powerless8217; residents of Mohali are in for more trouble.nbsp;If the ongoing power crisis was not enough to throw normal life out of gear, the residents have been asked to remove generator sets from outside their homes.

In the wake of unscheduled powercuts stretching up to 8 hours daily, most of the residents were forced to use generators as an alternate source of power supply. It can be no longer be the solution as the Mohali Municipal Council MC has served notices to the residents whose generator sets were set up in the front or rear sides of their buildings.

With the MC notices asking them to immediately remove generator sets to avoid them being impounded, the aggrieved residents are up in ante.nbsp; 8220;Where do we put our generators,8221; asked a local resident while reasoning that they were forced to use generators after inverters failed to work due to long and routine powercuts.nbsp;They argue that since the generators cannot be placed inside the buildings and multi-storey houses and shops, the only place to put them was in the front or rear of a building.

The civic body, however, is in no mood to reason.nbsp;The MC Executive Officer, in the notices, has asked the residents to immediately remove their generators otherwise the MC enforcement staff will take them away and legal action be taken against the defaulters.nbsp;Notices cite air and sound pollution as the reason behind the action.nbsp;Besides, the MC also claims to have received several complaints from some residents in this regard.

The notices have met widespread resentment and anguish.nbsp;Aarushi, a housewife in Phase 3B2 said: 8220;With long and unscheduled power cuts becoming a norm, generators are the only alternate to survive. How can the MC be against this?nbsp; They should only suggest some alternative.8221;

8220;We are not using the generators for fun.nbsp;Besides extra investment on its purchase, we bear expensive costs to generate power,8221; reasoned a Phase V shopkeeper, Sukhjeet Singh. A perturbed Phase IV resident, Neena Singh asked the MC to first ensure uninterrupted power supply before acting against the use of generators.

The power situation, meanwhile, is becoming grimmer with each passing day. Besides long powercuts all through the day, the most trying hours for the residents are midnight. 8220;At least nights should be spared from powercuts so that one gets the luxury of an eight-hour sleep,8221; said a Kharar resident, Neelam.

Mohali and Kharar areas are facing daily power cuts ranging between 6-8 hours besides frequent tripping and voltage fluctuation.nbsp;At times, the voltage goes so low that even the tubelights and fans fail to run.

The Punjab State Electricity Board PSEB officials attribute the problem to orders of Power Controller in Patiala and shrug off the responsibility of giving advance powercut schedule while claiming that they receive daily or instant call to shut power supply.