Protest held against frequent power disruption in Baramulla’s Zamzampora

Baramulla, Feb 9: The residents of ZamzamporaNarwav in north Kashmir’s Baramulla staged protest on Monday over the frequent failure of electricity in their area.

The grieved residents said that the power disruption occurs mainly due to the inadequate power transformer, which often gets overloaded and develops snag as a result of which scores of households here are facing immense hardship. The protesting residents said that since February 3, the entire village of ZamzamporaNarwav has been without electricity.

They said that although the transformer was repaired twice by the KPDCL department in Baramulla, however, it developed snags soon after every repair, leaving the village reeling in darkness for the past one week.

The locals said that the transformer is unable to bear the consumer electricity load and, therefore, its augmentation is necessary. “Unfortunately, despite repeated repairs, the transformer continues to develop snags. If it cannot bear the load, the department must install a higher-capacity transformer so that frequent breakdowns can be avoided,” said Ghulam Nabi, a local resident. The aggrieved residents said that the department has already installed smart meters in the area, however, despite this, frequent disruptions in power supply continue.

“The issue need to be resolved immediately. We are suffering immensely in this cold winter. If the repeated repair of the transformer does not fix the problem, then the department must come with some alternate solution so that locals here are not subjected to reel under darkness,” said Farooq Ahmad, of Zamzampora village.

An official of the PDD department Baramulla said that although smart meters have been installed in the area, the concerned agency has not yet laid the required cables. He said the problem is that some local residents are indulging in illegal hooking, due to which the transformer gets overloaded and develops snags. “We appeal to people not to indulge in hooking as it causes damage to the transformer. At the same time, the cable for the smart meters will be laid soon, which will prevent misuse of electricity to a great extent,” said Muhammad Shadi, Executive Engineer, PDD Baramulla.