As Jammu and Kashmir entered its 100th day of lockdown on Tuesday, residents in large parts of the Kashmir Valley were without electricity as the first snowfall hit their power supply last week.
The Valley has been without electricity since Thursday, November 7, The Print’s Azaan Javaid reports.
Thousands of electric poles and numerous transformers were damaged due to unprecedented snowfall, an administration spokesperson told PTI on Saturday, adding heavy damage to 220KV and 132KV lines resulted in complete failure of grid stations.
Officials told the news agency that power supply to all hospitals in Kashmir was restored on Saturday.
For the latest news and more, follow HuffPost India on Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our newsletter.
Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Baseer Khan told PTI on Monday electricity supply in Srinagar district had been restored almost fully. However, residents of other parts of the Valley say they have without been electricity for 4-5 days.
The lack of power supply has disrupted life in Kashmir.
“I had to wash my face with a mug of water which I collected from the snowmelt from the roof. There is no electricity for the past two days in our area and we could not get the water supplied to the water tanks on the roof,” said Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Rawalpora in Srinagar, told the Economic Times.
“On previous occasions, there was an elected government to fail us so we would direct our ire at known politicians and public faces. With all of them in jail, who should we blame now?” a local businessman told The Print.
On Saturday, the Power Distribution Corporation and Transco Limited said it had taken up the restoration work on a war footing and power supply in most areas of Srinagar city and other district headquarters had been restored.
The commissioner secretary was assured by chief engineers that power supply in the Valley would be fully restored in the next four to five days, the spokesperson told PTI, adding the divisional commissioner was informed that snow on all the major roads across the Valley has been cleared.
However, five days later, on Tuesday, people said they still did not have power.
Divisional Commissioner Baseer Khan said 95% of electricity supply in Srinagar district, 78% in Pulwama, 73% in Kulgam and 70% each in Shopian and Ganderbal has been restored on Monday.