Srinagar, 19 April: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Monday rued power outages particularly during Sehri, Iftar and Taraweeh, saying the claim of the administration to ensure provision of electricity on all feeders to people during these hours has fallen flat.

The remarks were made by Party Senior Leader and Former Speaker Legislative Assembly Mubarak Gul, while expressing concern over the frequent power outages in the Srinagar city in particular the suburbs of Srinagar in Eidgah constituency. “On the contrary, ever since the holy month of Ramzan has set in, the electricity has been playing hide and seek with the consumers particularly during Iftaar, Sehari, and Tarawhi hours. This has put the people to undue trepidation. However the concerned departments have failed to live up to its promise to ensure adequate power supply to domestic consumers,” he as per the statement said.

He said that he has been receiving phone calls from across the old city areas in particular the Eidgah constituency where consumers from different areas informed him how they are facing more power cuts at Sehri, and Iftar. “People are forced to have Sehri and Iftaar under candlelight, lamps. It goes without saying that the usage of electricity increases manifold during the ongoing month. I am hopeful that the concerned authorities will live up to its promises and ensure adequate power supply to consumers across Srinagar in particular the suburban area of Pal Pura in Eidgah constituency,” he as per the statement said.

Meanwhile expressing concern over the oddities faced by people living in Srinagar city, Gul said “Never has the road infrastructure been so horrendous, as it is these days. The entire road surface of the city these days is marked by potholes, piths and crumbling black topping, making it very difficult for public and private transport to ply. The gravel, slush and dust on the road stretch has made it difficult for the pedestrians to walk on the road not to speak of plying their vehicles,” he as per the statement said.

Asking the government to rise up to the exigencies during the ensuing month of Ramzan, Gul said, “In view of the challenges, the present situation has thrown at us, government should come to the rescue of people and provide additional ration to people at subsidized rates. The underprivileged falling in BPL, AAY category should be given free ration for the entire month. The ration stores across the length and breadth of J&K should be kept open catering to the needs of people throughout the month. Government should also increase the quota of sugar to consumers during the ensuing month.”

He impressed upon the administration the need of reining in the malefactors who indulge in black-marketing, and hoarding. He asked the government to take cognizance of scarcity of essentials across Kashmir division including taking action against those meat sellers who are charging exorbitant rates from consumers. “It looks like the government is sleeping at a time when it should have taken preemptive measures to ensure hassle free Ramzan to people. I hope the concerned departments will swing into action to ensure price stability across markets,” he as per the statement said. gns