Hiking electricity tariffs despite longer power-cuts unjustified: Tarigami

STATE TIMES NEWS

SRINAGAR: Expressing serious concern over the precarious power situation in Kashmir at a time when it is needed more to cope-up with the chilly winter, CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Wednesday said the electricity woes continue unabated while the power tariffs have been hiked arbitrarily by the government. “Power cuts inevitably grow longer every winter since the power deficiency in J&K doesn’t seem to improve. With the onset of winter, the unscheduled and prolonged power cuts become an unwritten rule, not only in non-metered areas, but metered ones as well,” Tarigami said. People living in rural areas, he said, are compelled to arrange for alternate sources of illumination since they are facing the worst power crisis.
While the people in cities and towns had to face low voltage and erratic power supply, he said, people living in rural and far-flung areas were left without electricity. Students appearing for different exams are the worst hit by the power crisis in Kashmir. Power authorities have hiked electricity tariff in a unilateral decision when the government has even failed to provide regular supply to consumers, he alleged adding that the Department has no cogent and valid justification in hiking the power tariff thus making it unaffordable to the poorer sections of the society.