PATIALA, June 9: The power crisis in Punjab today worsened with two units of the Ropar thermal plant stopping generation following leakage in its boiler link tube.According to authoritative sources in the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), only two units of the RTP were functioning today as against five units earlier. This had adversely affected power availability situation in the state, forcing the board to enforce unscheduled power cuts on different categories of consumers.The urban areas in the state witnessed a four-hour power cut, while the five important cities, including Amritsar, ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Mohali had a two-hour power cut. Even the rural areas which had a three-phase power supply yesterday had a curtailed supply today. The situation is likely to be identical in the coming few days till the Ropar Thermal Power units resume power generation.The sources said the demand for power would continue to increase in the coming few days, as work of paddy transplantation was on in full swing and would continue till June 15. The PSEB is already getting 500 MW power from the hydel sources. The board had yesterday supplied ten-hour three-phase power to the rural areas. In view of the severe heat wave, the demand for power is likely to increase in the coming days and may surpass the last year's peak load.The PSEB has already notified rotational off days for industrial units in the state. Every industrial city has been assigned a weekly off day when the units would remain shut.
