Jammu, 29 July (H.S.): District Congress Committee (DCC) president for Udhampur, Sumeet Magotra expressed strong resentment over the prolonged power outage in Sangoor Chowk and sought accountability from the Power Development Department (PDD) for failing to replace a damaged transformer despite repeated assurances.

Magotra said the transformer at Sangoor Chowk has remained out of service for the past two days, leaving the entire locality without electricity during intense summer heat. The prolonged outage has caused severe inconvenience to residents, particularly children, senior citizens and women.

Responding to complaints from local residents, Magotra, accompanied by a Congress delegation, visited the office of the Executive Engineer (XEn), PDD, and raised the issue with the concerned officials. He reminded the XEn that the department had publicly assured residents that a new transformer would be installed before 8 a.m. on Monday.

However, even by the afternoon, no replacement work had begun. Magotra questioned the officials over the failure to honour their commitment and demanded an explanation for the delay, stating that public assurances should be backed by timely action.

During the meeting, the XEn contacted the department's Jammu store in the presence of local residents and members of the Congress delegation to confirm the availability of the transformer. He assured the delegation that the new transformer would be installed and electricity supply restored within the next three hours.

Addressing the media Magotra alleged that whenever a transformer in the locality of a senior officer or an influential leader develops a fault, it is replaced within a few hours. We have witnessed such instances ourselves.

But when it comes to ordinary citizens, they are forced to suffer without electricity for days in the scorching heat. This discriminatory approach is unacceptable and raises serious questions about the functioning of the Power Development Department, he said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar