Traders block traffic

Later, they sent a memorandum to the chairman of the PSEB at Patiala alleging that hike in power tariff would make the Punjab industry uncompetitive which would lead to its crash. They said that the power tariff hike would hike the prices of steel and engineering goods in a big way.Demanding that the tariff hike be withdrawn immediately, the associations said it was needed to safeguard the interests of the common man and to save the industry of the state.

FATEHGARH SAHIB: The Joint Action Committee JAC of different organisations of the steel industry based at Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna and Amloh, in a meeting here today, decided to go on an indefinite strike from July 27 against the unjustified decision of the PSEB to increase power tariff.

Besides, the action committee also issued an appeal to the other business establishments and general public to observe one-day strike on the same day. Announcing the decision, a spokesperson of the Joint Action Committee said the recent hike in the power tariff would put an additional financial loss of at least Rs 1,200 per tonne on the consumers of steel in the state. If the hike was not withdrawn, it would cause a great damage to the industiral development of the state, he said.