New power curtailment schedule announced amid heat wave in Jammu

Jammu, May 27 (PTI) As Jammu is grappling with extreme hot weather conditions for the past fortnight, the authorities on Monday announced a four-hour load-shedding in the urban areas and eight-hour load-shedding in the rural areas on a daily basis.

The Jammu Power Development Corporation Ltd (JPDCL) said the power curtailment schedule will be in three shifts – morning, afternoon and evening – across the division.

The new schedule was issued on a day when Jammu city recorded the hottest day at 42.8 degrees Celsius, 3.7 notches above normal during this part of the season.
Jammu, where the night temperature settled at 24.7 degrees Celsius, continues to be the hottest recorded place in the division, an official of the meteorological department said.

He predicted continuation of the isolated heat wave in the region till the month end.
Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, also recorded a high of 39 degrees Celsius and a low of 24.4 degrees Celsius, which is 3.4 and 2.8 notches above normal, respectively, the official said.

The JPDCL officials said the power curtailment was necessitated by the spike in domestic requirement of electricity due to soaring temperatures over the past fortnight, especially after May 16 when the day temperature for the first time crossed the 40 degree Celsius mark in Jammu.
The JPDCL recently announced purchase of 200 MWs of power to overcome the power crisis created due to extreme hot weather conditions and distress power cuts.
Various parts of Jammu and other districts witnessed protests by people fuming over unscheduled power curtailment and water scarcity over the past two weeks.