Electricity union strike in Chandigarh, UT, has been called off

After a more than 36-hour power outage, electricity was restored in Chandigarh. The strike by Union Territory power department employees was called off, and electricity was restored.

Since Monday evening, thousands of houses have been without water and electricity. Surgical treatment at government hospitals had to be rescheduled, while online classes were affected. In certain areas of the city, traffic lights had also stopped functioning.

Adviser to the Administrator, Dharampal on power outage

Advisor Dharampal held a press conference on Wednesday evening after a long conversation with the leaders of the striking electrical employees and announced that the strike had been called off. They are no longer going to strike.

Advisor Dharampal stated that no action on power privatization will be made until the High Court makes a ruling. Apart from that, Sector-17 has been subjected to Section 144, according to Advisor Dharampal. Protesting will not be permitted in Sector 17.

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The Essential Service Maintenance Act had already been enforced by the Chandigarh administration, giving it the authority to order employees to return to work or face FIRs and even arrest.

The Essential Services Maintenance Act prohibits the electrical department from striking for six months.

Electricity workers are protesting the privatization of the department, which they believe would change their working conditions and raise power tariffs.

Officials from the Chandigarh administration claimed to have made plans to keep the electricity running, but residents and traders in several parts of the city reported outages. Industrial output and manufacturing in the city were also affected by the power outages.

Yesterday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court intervened, summoning the Union Territory’s Chief Engineer for a hearing on Wednesday.

“It has been brought to our notice that power supply to large parts of the city of Chandigarh has been disrupted. In the circumstances, we are constrained to take up this matter on the judicial side and have consequently requested the learned senior standing counsel, UT, Chandigarh to apprise us of the arrangements which the administration is making to ensure that undue hardship is not caused to the residents of the city,” the court order said.

Anil Mehta, a lawyer for the Chandigarh administration, told the courts that “the power failure is due to acts of sabotage by the striking employees.”

“This court cannot be oblivious of the fact that disruption of electricity supply is not only affecting the ordinary residents but may affect institutions like hospitals where patients may be on ventilators and other life support systems. Apart from that there are online examinations and classes which students are taking… In such situations, the disruption of electricity supply can cause irrevocable damage,” the High Court stated.

To restore power, Dharampal, the Administrator’s counsellor, tried to seek the assistance of the Western Command’s Military Engineering Service (MES) in Chandimandir.

Apart from Punjab and Haryana, the administration has asked Himachal Pradesh for support.