Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 26: Expressing concern over dwindling situation of electricity supply in the Jammu region, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Jammu today urged Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha to take all possible steps for providing 24X7 power to bail out industry and common households from the crisis.
Addressing a Press Conference at Chamber House in Jammu today, Arun Gupta president CCI Jammu said that the current scenario in Jammu region as far as electricity supply is concerned is quite unfortunate because even the areas having latest Smart Meters are not being spared from unscheduled power cuts leaving aside the situation of consumers having old meters. He said despite installation of Smart Meters people of Jammu are not getting regular power supply. He asked the administration then what is fun of installing Smart Meters if the concerned has miserably failed to provide frequent power supply.
The CCI president emphasized that the power crisis has stalled the work in the Industrial areas to a grinding halt which is bad for the UT as this is contrary to what is being projected about development in the region. He said that the common man is facing nightmarish experience with no proper schedule of the power in the region which is unacceptable as people were expecting round the clock supply under the LG’s administration.
Gupta mentioned that in the past, the Government had brought power from others states to cover the power shortage. He said that LG should seek special grant as far as power from the Northern grid to provide uninterrupted supply to industry and ensure scheduled electricity cuts for the common people as current uncertainty is highly unfortunate and creates unnecessary problems for the people.
The CCI president appealed to LG Sinha for taking some out of the box initiatives to address the issues of power, water and other civic edifice as Jammu region has lately been affected due to dearth of these entities.
Bari Brahmana Industries Association president, Lalit Mahajan said that industries were facing production losses worth crores with the unscheduled power cuts in the Industrial area. He said the Government must review its decision of imposing four hours curtailment in Industrial areas as J&K Industry has already suffered badly due to lock downs since 2019.
The others present in the conference include Anil Gupta, senior vice president CCI, Rajeev Gupta, junior vice president CCI, Gaurav Gupta, secretary general CCI and Rajesh Gupta, secretary CCI.