Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Friday asked the LG Administration to ensure effective round-the-clock public utility services to people, saying the crisis triggered by erratic power and water supply has put the consumers in a precarious situation.
This was stated by the Party General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar here at the party headquarters Nawa-e-Subha. Sagar who met scores of delegations from Kashmir province said that the people are bemoaning the erratic power and water supply. “The crisis triggered by shortage of these vital public utility services has compounded the predicaments of the consumers.”
“Ensuring steady access of public utilities to people in the urban and rural areas should be the priority for administration. Amid increasing energy supply by over 17 per cent in comparison to last year, Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) is still failing to provide uninterrupted power in the Kashmir division. We were told that comfortable winter days are in for people. But the claim is yet to materialize. In spite of the government promising to provide round-the-clock and as per schedule electricity, consumers across Kashmir continue to face unprecedented power outages. With a massive dip in temperature and the entire valley reeling through sub-zero temperatures, people are hardly getting any relief from the electricity department. Instead what they get at the end of the month are inflated electricity bills,” he said.
Telling truth to power is a sackable offense in BJP’s Naya Kashmir, he said while referring to the incident wherein a government employee was reprimanded for raising the issue of acute power supply. “The current situation has dashed the hopes of people to get improved and uninterrupted power supply. PDD never follows a particular schedule. It seems people’s suffering will continue this winter too,” he said adding, “Poor electricity is a reality we live with & criticizing the power department is as much a reality of Kashmiri winters as snow & power cuts. It should be taken by the department as a wakeup call, not a reason to dismiss. While common consumers including the students are bearing the brunt of the unscheduled power cuts, the crisis has hit the traders the most, especially those associated with tourism, and other sectors.”
Alluding to the distress of consumers on account of scarcity of food grains and essential commodities at ration stores, Sagar said, “Distribution of free ration under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) from December 2021 onwards is a grave injustice to thousands of households who are yet to find a way out of penury induced by successive lock downs and clampdowns since 2019. Distribution of free ration as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY-3), should continue for Jammu and Kashmir, as the people are yet to overcome from the economic distress caused by the ravaging impact of Covid-19 and August 05 2019 decisions,” he added.
He assured the visiting delegations that the party functionaries will raise the issue of poor public utility services at all forums. The visiting delegations were civil society members, individuals and marginal traders.
