Amid rising incidents of angry consumers forcibly entering electricity substations and threatening employees over prolonged power cuts, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has sought police protection for all 66 kV substations across Jalandhar and Phagwara, citing an alarming increase in threats to staff and critical power infrastructure.
Police Deployment Requested for 30 Substations
In a letter dated June 30 addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, the Senior Superintendent of Police (Jalandhar Rural), and the Superintendent of Police, Phagwara, the PSPCL urged the immediate deployment of police personnel at all 66 kV substations to prevent law-and-order situations and ensure employee safety.
According to the utility, the Jalandhar circle has 30 such substations — 16 in Jalandhar city, eight in Jalandhar rural and six in Phagwara.
Power Cuts Trigger Public Anger
The corporation clarified that these substations operate scheduled power cuts strictly on directions from the Power Controller as part of the state’s power management system. Employees posted at these facilities are responsible only for implementing load-shedding instructions and have no role in deciding the timing or location of outages.
However, frequent and prolonged power cuts have triggered widespread public anger, with groups of consumers repeatedly entering substation premises, allegedly abusing staff, issuing threats of physical violence and in some cases attempting to damage expensive electrical equipment.
Urgent Appeal to Protect Infrastructure
Calling the situation “extremely urgent,” the PSPCL urged the police to provide security at all substations to safeguard employees, prevent loss of life and property and protect critical power infrastructure.
Earlier this week, residents of Baldev Nagar, Ujjala Nagar, Raja Garden and Anup Nagar in Jalandhar West entered a nearby 66 kV substation after alleging their localities had faced scheduled power cuts from 10 pm to 7 am for four consecutive days.
The residents, many of them daily wage workers, said the extended nighttime outages disrupted sleep, made it difficult to cope with the heat and affected their daily routines, leaving them exhausted before work each morning.
Officials Appeal for Cooperation
Rajiv Sumbra, Superintending Engineer, PSPCL (Protection and Maintenance Wing), said police protection had been requested to safeguard employees and expensive equipment. “We appeal to residents to stage protests outside substation premises, as these are highly sensitive installations. Our staff only implement directions issued by the Power Controller,” he said.
Satinder Singh, Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, said police patrolling around substations had been intensified following the PSPCL’s request to prevent any untoward incidents.
