A 10-hour power outage triggered protests in several parts of Ludhiana as residents took to the streets after a scheduled outage from 8 pm to midnight was repeatedly extended till 6 am on Friday.
Residents began gathering at five 66-kV grids around 2.30-3 am during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday and continued their protests till the wee hours, raising slogans against the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and the state government. Power supply was restored around 6 am. Residents said they had been facing scheduled outages from 8 pm to midnight for the past several days and had been managing with the arrangement. However, when the outage was first extended till 2 am and then till 6 am, it became difficult to manage, particularly for children and elderly family members.
Ramesh Chand, a Focal Point resident, said his family had waited for the power supply to return at midnight. They said the outage was intended for industrial consumers, but households connected to the same feeders were also being forced to bear its impact. Arjun, a Meharban resident, said people had no objection to measures being taken to manage the power shortage, but the outage schedule should be communicated clearly instead of being extended repeatedly during the night.
However, the repeated extension of the outage on Thursday night left families struggling, particularly those with children and elderly members.
