36-Hour Blackout Brings Chandigarh to a Standstill; Water Supply, Hospital Services Hit

Chandigarh Power Outage: Online classes of some students were also affected in many areas in the city. Some coaching institutes even suspended classes for the day because of power outages.

New Delhi: Power outage in parts of Chandigarh has impacted the normal life of residents in Chandigarh as they have been left without electricity and water for more than 36 hours. The areas which faced power outages included sectors 20, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 49, 36, Kishangarh, and Manimajra.

The outage has also hit the mobile operators’ association COAI and telecom towers which have disrupted mobile network connectivity in certain areas. Traffic lights at some intersections in the city were also non-functional because of the interruption of service.

Hospitals, Online Classes Affected

Following the blackout, hospitals have also been forced to reschedule its many surgeries. “We have a backup plan like we have generators. But you cannot put 100 per cent load of a hospital on a generator. So, we had to reschedule or postpone our planned surgeries,” Chandigarh Health Services Director Suman Singh told news agency PTI.

Online classes of some students were also affected in many areas in the city. Some coaching institutes even suspended classes for the day because of power outages. Honey, a student of Class 11, said, “I could not take my economics subject test today as the coaching centre suspended classes because of power shutdown.”

Aditya, a Class 12 student preparing for his board exams, said, “I could not take my online classes today because there is no electricity since the morning, and the power backup at my house has gotten discharged. This kind of situation at a critical juncture has adversely affected several students like me.”

Power disruption has also hit industrial production and manufacturing at some units in the city. “Shopkeepers and traders are feeling harassed over the disruption of electricity supply in the city. Electricity is an essential service and the administration should take appropriate steps to restore it,” said Chandigarh Beopar Mandal president Charanjiv Singh.

Why Are Employees Of the Electricity Department Protesting? 

Under the banner of UT Powermen Union, employees of the electricity department went on a strike on Monday night. President of the union Dhian Singh said they are protesting against the UT Chandigarh administration’s decision to privatise the electricity department.

The protesting employees claimed that if the electricity department was privatised, their service conditions would change and it also could lead to a rise in power tariffs. They also held a massive protest here.