Power cut hits Diwali market and industry

 

COOCH BEHAR, Nov. 4: Unlimited hours of power cut are disturbing the normal life in Cooch Behar district and Alipurduar. The situation turned grave after the pujas. The power supply may go out at any moment without any notice for 90-minits or more at a time. Such power cut may occur three or four times per day. Local WBSEDCL officials failed to assure restoration of adequate power on the pretext of the problem as a state wide one.

 

As the Diwali is coming closer the traders and businessmen are the worst sufferers. On behalf of the suffering traders Cooch Behar District Merchants Chamber of Commerce (CDMCC) drew attention of the state power minister and the industries minister. CDMCC secretary Mr RK Baid said they urged the ministers to do something to minimise the period of power cuts. The unlimited power cuts are pushing the pre-Diwali business to shambles, he alleged.

 

Not only trading but also the industrial units are suffering. Secretary of Industrial Federation of Cooch Behar (IFC) Mr Depak Mundra said that at Chakchaka Industrial Growth Centre (CIGC) the production loss per hour of power cut was estimated at Rs 80,000 to Rs one-lakh. At present, twenty-eight production units are running at the Chakchaka complex and eleven more are on the pipeline to start production. He feared that if this situation continues the units may turn sick and no new entrepreneur may come up to set up units at Chakchaka or elsewhere in this district. "We had conveyed the situation to the state small scale minister Mr Manabendra Mukherjee and sabhadhipati of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda urging them to take an initiative to consider CIGC as a "no load-shedding zone but the industrial complex is still suffering from the problem", he said.

 

Meanwhile, a nine-member team of Assembly standing committee on electricity and non-conventional energy visited Cooch Behar on Friday and Saturday. On behalf of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad (CZP) a proposal was submitted to the committee urging consideration of CIGC and Cooch Behar Airport as "no load-shedding zone" to maintain the progress of industrialisation process. CZP sabhadhipati Mr Jnanendra Chandra Chanda said they also submitted proposals to set up a 132-KV substation at Mathabhanga and upgradation of the existing substation at Tufanganj. It was learnt that the Assembly team might submit a report containing these proposals to the state Assembly for consideration. []