Addressing a press conference in Mohali on Tuesday evening, the SAD president said that special arrangements have been made to make Punjab powercut free.

“Give me two days to free the state from the prevailing power crisis,” said Sukhbir when asked about the deteriorating power situation in the Punjab.

With daily powercuts stretching up to 6-8 hours in the urban areas of Mohali and Kharar, residents are sceptical about the deputy chief minister’s statement. Besides, tripping and local faults have added to the woes of the power consumers.

Sukhbir’s announcement is contrary to the recent statement of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) chairman H S Brar, who had said that the Board was unable to reduce the present powercuts following the widening gap between the generation and demand of power in the state.

In Kharar, power supply remained suspended from 7 am to 3 pm continuously without any prior information on Tuesday. Moreover, frequent tripping remained the order of the day and night.

The situation was no better in Mohali, where the power plays truant for hours together without any schedule and 5-6 hour daily powercut is a routine.