The ongoing rail blockade has severely impacted coal supply for the thermal power plants in Punjab, officials said on Saturday, as fear of severe power outages rises in the state.
Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal appealed to the farmer outfits, which have been protesting against the three new contentious agriculture laws, to ease their agitation to allow movement of goods trains. “If (goods) train services do not resume, I fear there can be power cuts and maybe total power shutdown in the state,” Badal told reporters.
With no movement of goods trains because of the ”rail-roko” agitation for an indefinite period, the coal supply in thermal power plants has reached a critical stage. “We are now left with two days of coal,” Punjab State Power Corporation Limited chairperson and managing director Venuprasad said.
