Punjab to face power cuts for 3 years: Badal

Kapurthala, Oct 11: Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday, Oct 10 said people of Punjab would have to face problem of power cuts for another three to four years till the state became sufficient in power generation.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Sukhbir Badal said the State government was concentrating on power generation of 10000 MW and claimed that Punjab would become power surplus once the generation commenced.

When his attention was drawn towards the daily power cuts affecting the traders and industry, he said that State government had tried its best to buy the power from the other states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra but they were unable to supply the electricity as the entire country was facing a power crisis.

The SAD chief blamed the Congress government for paying little attention towards power generation.

Describing as ''false'' the news reports of uninterrupted power supply in the Lambi constituency represented by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he claimed that Lambi was also facing the power cuts like other parts of Punjab.

Dismissing allegations levelled by Congress leaders that SAD government was giving preference to Malwa over Majha and Doaba regions, the party chief said a number of development projects, including Punjab Technical University, Science city, Thein Dam, International air port at Amritsar in these belts.

He blamed the previous Congress government for ignoring the Doaba and Majha regions in respect of developments.

He blamed the Centre for the miseries faced by farmers and the commonman and demanded bonus to the farmers on the purchase of paddy.

UNI