Expressing grave concern over water and power crisis across J&K, former minister and senior National Conference leader Mr Ajay Kumar Sadhotra today lambasted the administration for pushing the people to wall during the current spell of the brute heat- wave across the Jammu region, especially Jammu.
“The situation has become all the more critical with mercury breaching 40 degree Celsius ”, Mr Sadhotra said while addressing a public meeting at Lale-da-Bagh Nai Basti.
Sadhotra said the failed BJP Government is mulling a big hike in the power tariff to silence the people from rising against the unprecedented crisis that has jeopardised the normal life. Any raise in the power hike is not only unacceptable to the people but would be overwhelmingly opposed, he added.
He accused the BJP Government of having miserably failed in maintaining the curtailment schedule as frequent unscheduled power cuts for hours together has become a norm. If this is the scenario at the beginning of the summer, what can be the scene in coming months, especially during monsoon, is anybody’s guess, he asked while attributing the nightmarish breakdown to mismanagement, lack of vision and administrative inertia.
Sadhotra wondered over the explanations being put forward about the countrywide power scarcity due to shortage of coal, saying this again proves the callousness and inefficiency of the BJP government that has failed to preempt the situation by making advance arrangements. The job of the government is not to tell the cause of a problem but to solve it. Since the insensitive government had no clue how to meet the crisis, the entire country suffered in general and Jammu and Kashmir in particular, he said while expressing fears about grimmer months particularly the monsoon.
The former minister said the power crisis has brought life to standstill with every segment like industry, trade and commerce, households, students, etc braving the brunt. The erratic supply has impacted water supply in most of the areas. The government ought to have made contingency plans, constituted special teams of the line departments and put in place the help-lines to mitigate the public woes in terms of augmenting the supply through tankers. The situation is grave in urban and rural areas. He sought formulation of a summer power and water plan to meet the requirements of the people well ahead of monsoon sets in.
Sadhotra also criticized the government for failing to check the spiralling prices of essential commodities; as a consequence, the common people are eking out extremely difficult lives. As if it was not enough, unabated rise in the petroleum products like diesel and petrol have led to increase in transportation charges, resulting in the cost escalation of essentials, he said and referred to yet another hike of Rs 50 per LPG cylinder. Where poor people will go, he asked.
The Senior National Conference leader asked the government to shun it’s anti-people and anti-poor policies to relieve the common man from constant miseries. The lack of accountability has further added to their woes, he said. Scores of BJP Workers joined National Conference including men and women. Welcoming the new entrants Mr. Sadhotra hoped that their coming to party will further strengthen the hands of our President Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Sh. Omar Abdullah. Prominent among those who joined National Conference are S/ Sh Capt. Madan Lal Choudhary,
Subash Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Rahul Kumar, Raj Kumar, Shubam Kumar, Smt. Neha Kumari, Smt. Poli Devi Others who spoke on the occasion are Raghuvir Singh District President, Ghar Singh Chib Corporator, Rakesh Sharma, Ravi Sharma, Bhagwan Dass Sharma, Shallu Sharma, Randhir Singh Chib.(KNS)