Chandigarh faces blackout as electricity employees go on strike; hospitals, water supply hit

The electrical employees are protesting the privatisation of the power company. They are concerned that privatisation would alter their working circumstances. So yet, Union Territory Advisor Dharam Pal's meeting with the employees' union has produced no results.

A three-day walkout by electricity department employees has resulted in a huge power outage in Chandigarh. Many parts of the city have been without power and water for more than 36 hours. Many of the city's traffic signals are also out of commission. Many procedures have even had to be postponed at government facilities.

In court, the government blamed the strikers, accusing them of "acts of sabotage." "We have a backup plan, such as generators. However, a generator cannot handle the whole demand of a hospital. As a result, we had to reschedule or postpone our scheduled procedures," Suman Singh, Director of Chandigarh Health Services, said the news agency PTI.

The outage has also disrupted online classes and coaching establishments in one of India's most well-planned cities. The electrical employees are protesting the privatisation of the power company. They are concerned that privatisation would alter their working circumstances. So yet, Union Territory Advisor Dharam Pal's meeting with the employees' union has produced no results.

On Tuesday evening, the administration enacted the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), which placed a six-month strike ban on the electrical department. The administration also claimed to have made plans to keep the electricity on.

On Wednesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court summoned the union territory's Chief Engineer. Justices Ajay Tewari and Pankaj Jain urged the Chief Engineer to update the court on the efforts taken to address the city's power outage. Anil Mehta, the counsel for the Chandigarh government, told the court that "the power disruption is due to acts of sabotage by the striking staff." The blackout has also impacted industrial output and manufacturing in various municipal units.