Interview | Contingency plan not possible with no manpower on ground, says Chandigarh adviser on blackout

For more than 24 hours, Chandigarh residents were left to suffer in an unprecedented power outage. While the administration has pegged the affected area as 40% of the city, unofficial estimates claim that more than 80% of the city’s 12 lakh population was forced to live without power and water. UT adviser Dharam Pal talked to Hindustan Times on what went wrong:

When such a situation develops, it becomes difficult to ensure that the system is restored overnight.

In a scenario where all of the manpower leaves the ground, no contingency plan can be prepared.

Also read: After over 40-hour ordeal, power restored in Chandigarh

You are right, ESMA could have been imposed on the first day itself. But we had a sympathetic view for the employees and trusted the union. We wanted to address their concerns and did not expect that some elements would indulge in sabotage of the system. In earlier strikes, there was no sabotage. This is a completely new incident.

Right before the strike notice, we had held a long meeting with union members and I myself addressed all their issues and concerns. I assured them that their conditions regarding their service will be respected and even offered to give the same in writing. But they didn’t budge.

I, along with senior officials, was in the control room during the strike period. But when power fails most communication systems fail along with it. Last evening, I had to specifically contact the company to restore the exchange setup here. Helpline numbers were also working through the same exchange so those were also affected.

We have a back-up plan in place, and got additional manpower. 50 persons from Punjab, 10 from Haryana, 25 from REC, 10 from BBMB, 250 from ministry of power. In addition to it we have more than 100 army personnel assisting us. They will be with us for at least one week. I am going to familiarise the army with our entire system so that if anything like this happens, they are familiar with our system

There are certain elements which are trying to twist the agreement under political influence. We have identified them and we will take strict action against these people if they indulge in any mischief. We have also told them that employees’ service conditions, including pensionary benefits, will remain the same. This clause in the agreement is binding on both government and company.