Leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI) have sought the urgent intervention of Lieutenant Governor Virendra Kataria in resolving various issues concerning the city, including frequent power outages.
A CPI delegation, led by State unit secretary R.Viswanathan, met Mr. Kataria on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum pointing out that though Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam regions had become urban centres in the last three decades, there was a shortage of 50 MW electricity at any given time.
“In recent weeks, the supply of electricity in the city and rural areas has become erratic causing an immense loss of production and employment as well as hardship to students, patients and senior citizens. The Government should expedite measures to secure its share from the Kudankulam plant”, said the memorandum.
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The CPI also requested the Lieutenant Governor to direct the government to sensitise the public to the power situation, as otherwise the prevailing “uncertainty could turn to unrest.”
Mr. Vishwanathan also pointed out the Puducherry Electricity Department’s stocks of wires, meters, poles and other essential materials was fast depleting.
“There is a 30 per cent leakage of electricity due to theft, pilferage and line loss,” he claimed.
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In a separate memorandum to Mr. Kataria, the CPI delegation also expressed their apprehensions over some minority educational institutions bypassing the legitimate claims of minority students.
They said there was no response yet from government to their petition seeking a discussion on admissions to minority educational institutions.