Banawali (Mansa), April 30
The Punjab Government is working to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the state and soon all sectors would start receiving regular supply, said Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO here today.
Interacting with mediapersons after visiting the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant at Banawali, the minister said in comparison to previous years, the demand for power had surged 40 per cent and units in some thermal plants were shut, leading to outages. Some of the units had been repaired, while others would start power generation soon. The unit of Ropar thermal plant, which was closed, had also been started, he said.
After inspecting the central control room of the plant, the minister said there were three units of 1,980 MW, each producing 660 MW power. Of those, one unit was closed due to maintenance and officers had been directed to make it operational within a week. He asked the plant authorities to try and draw water from the sewerage treatment plant.
The minister said the state government was making efforts to ensure there was no shortfall of coal in thermal plants. The government had a meeting with the Union Coal Minister on supply of fuel and had a mine near Pachhwara, Jharkhand, had been identified that would soon start supplying coal to the state.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Vijay Singla said although the power supply was affected due to some technical reasons, the issue had been resolved. Adequate backup arrangements had been made in state hospitals to deal with outages, he added.
Power crisis to be over soonin Punjab: Power Minister Harbhajan Singh
{$excerpt:n}
