Chandigarh Feb 23 PTI Protesting employees of the city electricity department on Wednesday evening called off their strike while power supply has also been restored in the most parts of the city The decision to call off the three-day strike that was to end on Thursday night was taken after a meeting between the representatives of the UT Powermen Union and senior officials of the Chandigarh administration The city residents have faced the worst-ever electricity crisis in the history of Chandigarh as the disruption in power supply adversely affected residential industrial and commercial areas Even the government hospitals in the union territory had to reschedule elective surgeries Employees of the electricity department under the banner of the UT Powermen Union had gone on a strike on late Monday night against UT Chandigarh administrations move to privatise the department After the meeting with the officials of the administration UT Powermen Union president Dhian Singh said they have called off the strike Addressing the media on Wednesday evening Dharam Pal adviser to the UT Administrator said power to most of the areas has been restored since the staff has joined their duties Some areas might still be affected but we will restore power in those areas as well by today evening said the adviser The Chandigarh administration on Tuesday evening had invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act banning strikes by the electricity department for six months He said the armys help was also taken to restore the electricity in the city Six feeders were restored Tuesday night he said adding that by Wednesday noon power supply in 80 per cent of the area was restored Pal also read out the proceedings of the meeting with the union members and said that the union requested that the sympathetic view should be taken regarding those employees who join their duty on Wednesday itself The Deputy Commissioner Chandigarh assured that a reasonable sympathetic view will be taken regarding such employees who joined their duty today he said Appropriate legal action will be taken against those employees who will still be absent from duty he further said The adviser said on the request of the union the deputy commissioner assured that the department will not issue LoI letter of intent to a selected private agency till the next date of hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court The matter pertaining to the privatization of the electricity department is pending before the high court Notably in 2020 the Chandigarh administration had decided to privatize the department and later the UT Powermen Union approached the high court against this move The Chandigarh administration on Wednesday assured the Punjab and Haryana high court that it would restore 100 percent electricity by 10 pm The high court on Tuesday had taken suo-motu notice of the electricity crisis and had asked the UT chief engineer to appear before the court on Wednesday Residents of Chandigarh at some places faced power outages on Wednesday morning Harried residents of the union territory Chandigarh which is the common capital of Punjab and Haryana had blamed the city administration for remaining a mute spectator leaving them in lurch as the power outages crippled the city Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari on Wednesday had sought intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the matter saying there is chaos and anarchy and all essential services have come to a standstill PTI CHS VSD MR MR

Chandigarh Feb 23 PTI Residents of some parts of Chandigarh continued to face power outages on Wednesday morning with electricity supply remaining disrupted after the employees of the electricity department went on a three-day strike against privatisation Harried residents of Chandigarh which is the countrys first planned city blamed the city administration for remaining a mute spectator leaving them in lurch as the power outages crippled the city Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari sought intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the matter saying there is chaos and anarchy and all essential services have come to a standstill Dear AmitShah ji Chandigarh has been without electricity for 36 hours There is chaos anarchy All Essential Services are at a standstill ChandigarhAdmn has miserably failed to address the situation Chandigarh is an Union Territory Kindly intervene said Tewari in a tweet on Wednesday The Chandigarh administration on Tuesday evening had invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act banning strikes by the electricity department for six months There were however reports that electricity supply was getting restored at some places The outage since Monday night forced government hospitals in the union territory to reschedule elective surgeries besides adversely affecting residential industrial and commercial areas in the city Not only adversely affecting online classes there was a chaos on roads with traffic lights at many intersections remained non-functional I have never seen in my life such an electricity crisis in Chandigarh said an elderly resident of Sector 20 here on Wednesday morning He blamed the city administration for not taking measures to deal with the situation caused by the electricity department employees strike Water supply was also hit at some places because of disruption in electricity supply Another city resident appealed to protesting employees to call off their strike saying it was the common man who was suffering because of the power outage Many shopkeepers said their goods like dairy products poultry and meat products which need to be refrigerated have started getting perished Our food items which should be stored in low temperatures are getting perished as there is no electricity rued a shopkeeper The industrial unit owners have also pegged huge losses because of loss of production caused by power shutdown in industrial areas Employees of the electricity department under the banner of the UT Powermen Union went on a strike on Monday night against UT Chandigarh administrations move to privatise the electricity department The protesting employees claimed that if the electricity department was privatised their service conditions would change and it also could lead to a rise in power tariffs PTI CHS VSD MKJ

Chandigarh Feb 22 PTI Many parts in Chandigarh faced power outages on Tuesday a day after employees of the electricity department launched a three-day strike in protest against privatisationThe outage since Monday night forced government hospitals in the union territory to reschedule elective surgeries besides adversely affecting residential industrial and commercial areas in the cityThough officials of the Chandigarh administration claimed necessary arrangements were being made to maintain continuity of power supply residents and traders in many areas of the city complained of outagesPower disruption has also hit industrial production and manufacturing at some units in the cityShopkeepers and traders are feeling harassed over the disruption of electricity supply in the city Electricity is an essential service and the administration should take appropriate steps to restore it said Chandigarh Beopar Mandal president Charanjiv SinghOnline classes of students were also affected in many areas in the city Some coaching institutes even suspended classes for the day because of power outagesHoney a student of Class 11 said I could not take my economics subject test today as the coaching centre suspended classes because of power shutdown Aditya a Class 12 student preparing for his board exams said I could not take my online classes today because there is no electricity since the morning and the power backup at my house has gotten discharged This kind of situation at a critical juncture has adversely affected several students like me The areas which faced power outages included sectors 20 34 36 40 42 44 49 36 Kishangarh and ManimajraTraffic lights at some intersections were also non-functional because of the outageEmployees of the electricity department under the banner of the UT Powermen Union went on a strike on Monday nightPresident of the union Dhian Singh said they are protesting against the UT Chandigarh administrations decision to privatise the electricity departmentThe protesting employees claimed that if the electricity department was privatised their service conditions would change and it also could lead to a rise in power tariffs They also held a massive protest hereChandigarh Health Services Director Dr Suman Singh said government hospitals including the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 had to postpone their planned surgeriesWe have a backup plan like we have generators But you cannot put 100 per cent load of a hospital on a generator So we had to reschedule or postpone our planned surgeries she said adding electricity supply to hospitals should not be disrupted at all during any protestMeanwhile the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research PGIMER on Tuesday said it is coordinating with the UT administration to ensure uninterrupted power supplyThe situation is being viewed seriously and a SE Superintendent Engineer has been deputed at the 66 kV substation here For the critical areas we have a backup of DG sets We are microscopically monitoring to ensure that no hospital service is impacted the PGIMER said in a statement PTI CHS SUN VSD IJT

Tribune Web DeskChandigarh August 17Chandigarh-based compere Punita Bawa was awarded the Commendation Award by the UT administration at the Independence day programme on SundayShe has acted as a compere at various prominent shows in the city since last 16 years including events which had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former PM Manmohan Singh in attendanceShe recently was the compere at a programme attended by Home minister Amit ShahEarlier she used to be a freelance announcer and a full-time teacher at DAV-15She has successfully completed 28 years of teaching and in this time span shes been honored with the State Teacher Award and Commendation Award by UT