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| Pesky power cuts: Pankhis’ more reliable than electricity | | |  KUNAL SHRIVATSA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, July 5: Thanks to the Power Development Department (PDD), the Jammuites are ‘back to the old days’ as going by the abysmal state of power supply situation in Jammu city and its peripheries, the residents are now forced to adopt traditional ways and means to get relief from the scorching heat.
With frequent disruptions to the power supply, those who have the facility of inverters in their homes are not able to get alternate sources of power as whatever being supplied is presently hardly sufficient for the equipment to get fully charged.
In such a scenario, the general public is now relying on traditional Handmade ‘pankhis’ to cool themselves and get some respite from the boiling hot temperature since there is no other way when there are frequent as well as unscheduled power cuts.
“As there is very little chance of improvement in the current power supply scenario we were searching for some idea to get out of this mess, suddenly we thought why to not try traditional Handmade pankhis as they are cheap, reliable and easy to carry anywhere,” said Anju Magotra, a resident of Janipur.
“We bought some Handmade pankhis which reminded us of our childhood as it was a common tool in not only our home but several other households to get some cool air during hot and humid weather conditions.
Thank you very much PDD authorities for redirecting us to our good old days,” she added.
The regular power cuts especially during nights that have hit Jammu city and its adjoining areas hard have totally disrupted the sleeping habits of its residents.
Residents from several localities including Janipur, Bantalab, Barnai, Roop Nagar, Muthi, Satwari, Nai Basti in Jammu city while in the peripheral areas like Phallian Mandal and Vijaypur say that the power supply has totally gone out of control with no predictable pattern to the power cuts. Families having small kids, aged and elderly people have more distressing times.
“I feel tired and irritated all day because of the night power cuts,” fumes a working lady Neeru Sharma, a resident of Roop Nagar.
“During the entire night, I have to fan my kids with pankhis or papers and other stuff during the night power cuts as otherwise they find it difficult to sleep,” she said.
“This leaves me completely sleepless, which in turn, makes me tired the next day and leaves me prone to irritation. This affects my work at the office as I am unable to concentrate properly,” she added.
Apart from the hour-long power cuts, the repeated spells of outages lasting for a couple of minutes are also causing problems and residents are worried about its impact on sensitive and expensive electronic equipment such as LEDs, refrigerators, air conditioners and stabilizers.
“What is the fun of having fans and air conditioners at homes when they cannot run in the absence of electricity? They have become mere showpieces for us; right now they are of no use,” few of the aggrieved residents told Early Times.
“The increased power cuts could not have come at a worse time as Jammu is witnessing one of the most scorching summers with the mercury rising very high each passing day and it is also very humid out there,” they added.
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