Unscheduled power cuts have hit farmers who have been preparing fields for the kharif season. Before the onset of monsoon, water pumps are used to irrigate the fields where paddy saplings are transplanted. The paddy needs standing water for growth, but cultivators are finding it difficult to plant saplings as due to power outages water pumps can’t be run.
In rural areas of Jammu district, the power development department (PDD) has issued a schedule of seven-hour electricity cuts, but the supply remain disrupted more than that. In many villages, electricity is supplied for just six hours a day.
While talking to The Tribune, several farmers in the RS Pura sector, which grows world-famous basmati rice, Marh and Akhnoor, said they were facing many problems due to unscheduled cuts.
