Chandigarh, July 9
Reacting to the reports that the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government of Punjab had now woken up from its slumber and was considering power purchase agreements, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has once again termed it a decision to befool the people of the state. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Friday, AAP senior leader and MLA from Sunam, Aman Arora said that the Congress, SAD and the BJP, all parties while in power in Punjab tried to rob the people through power purchase agreements; due to which Punjab had been forced to buy power from the open market at Rs 12.40 per unit from nearby power plants and Rs 17 per unit from solar power plants in the peak summer season. Arora said that the Badals and the Captain government were responsible for the deteriorating power supply situation in the state.
Arora said that due to the deadly power agreements made during the SAD-BJP government and wrong policies of the Captain government, the children of Punjab were protesting outside their homes in the scorching heat and due to non-availability of electricity from tubewells, farmers were forced to destroy paddy in their fields. He said that during the last elections, Captain Amarinder Singh and the Congress party had promised to cancel the power deals made by the Badals and issue a white paper on the agreements, but after a lapse of more than four and a half years of the Captain government; no power deals had been canceled and no white paper had been issued. “Due to the wrong agreements made by the Badals with the private thermal plants and non-cancellation of the agreements by the present Congress government, the power situation in the state is deteriorating,” asserted Arora.
The AAP leader further said that due to wrong agreements, the Punjab government had to pay a fixed charge to the thermal managers even in case of shutdown of thermal plants; Punjab had to procure electricity from the open market at Rs 12.40 per unit and from solar power plants at Rs 17 per unit. Taking a dig at the Badals, Arora asked to state how many solar power plants were installed during the Akali government and in whose name? “Why unprincipled agreements were made to purchase power from such solar power plants at Rs. 17 per unit?” he questioned. Arora further alleged that the Badal government had entered into agreements to purchase expensive power from solar power plants including coal thermal plants, which was causing huge economic looting of the people. He demanded Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to immediately issue a white paper on the power agreements reached by the Badals and take concrete and appropriate steps for the supply of power.
