Members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Sidhupur) led by district president Gurjinder Singh today staged a protest outside the powercom grid office in Sirhind, demanding uninterrupted power for agriculture.
The farmers accused the Punjab Government and Powercom of failing to honour their promise of providing eight hours of continuous electricity for irrigation. They said paddy crop required timely watering, but frequent and prolonged outages had left farmers struggling to irrigate their fields, putting the crop at risk.
The issue has also affected urban areas, where residents have been facing frequent undeclared power cuts and erratic supply over the past several days, disrupting household routines and business activities. Consumers complained that electricity outages were occurring without prior notice, adding to public frustration amid the ongoing summer demand.
Addressing the gathering, Gurjinder Singh said the government’s assurances had proved hollow and warned that if regular power supply was not restored within the next one or two days, farmers would be forced to block the national highway in protest. He said the administration would be solely responsible for any inconvenience caused.
Later, powercom XEN reached the spot and held talks with the union leaders. The official attributed the disruption to technical issues and assured the protesters that the faults would be rectified and power supply normalised within the next couple of days. Following the assurance, the farmers called off their protest, but warned that they would intensify their agitation if the promises were not fulfilled.
Earlier, farmers of Jallah village staged a protest outside the local power grid on Sunday against the failure to provide the promised eight-hour electricity supply for agricultural operations. The protesting farmers said the irregular power supply has severely disrupted paddy transplantation, forcing them to wait for electricity for long hours, which has increased the risk of crop losses.
