A three-day strike by around 40,000 electricity employees in Haryana has disrupted power supply in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Nuh and other cities, affecting households, industrial units, shops and water services. The workers are protesting the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission’s decision to grant a 25-year parallel electricity distribution licence in Gurgaon and Nuh to private company Eleven Power.
Power-related difficulties began within hours of the strike, with the electricity department receiving more than 3,000 complaints, according to the report. Several areas experienced prolonged outages, while a number of 33-kilovolt and 11-kilovolt feeders affected by faults remained shut, the joint front representing the striking employees said.
Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Uttam Singh held a meeting late into the night to appeal to the employees to withdraw the strike. The discussions, however, ended without an agreement to call off the protest. The report does not state that the administration or the employees reached a service-restoration arrangement.
The employees’ joint front said the action was not related to demands for higher salaries or allowances. Senior leader Devendra Singh Hooda said the workers and engineers were opposing the proposed privatisation of electricity distribution and seeking to protect the interests of farmers and ordinary consumers.
The employees alleged that handing over areas generating the highest revenue to a private company would weaken the state electricity corporation. They also claimed that the company would focus on profitable locations while agricultural and rural areas could be left with the government corporation. The workers further said the decision could affect around 40,000 regular, temporary and outsourced employees and engineers.
The outage has also affected industrial activity in Gurgaon. Progressive Federation of Trade and Industry president and industrialist Deepak Maini said Sector 37 had been without power from 10 pm on Wednesday. He said power cuts had stopped machinery and production at industrial units, with businesses facing possible losses and delays in the availability and delivery of finished goods. Industrial areas in Kadipur and Basai were also reported to have been affected.
The disruption to electricity supply has had a direct effect on water availability in several localities. Residents said they were relying on water stored in tanks, but that supply was expected to last only a few hours. In Faridabad, residents of the New Industrial Township-2 area came onto the streets demanding restoration of electricity, saying the outages had also affected water supply.
Nuh district reported disruption in Puhana, Nagina and Firozpur Jhirka, where residents faced difficulties in daily life. The immediate dispute remains centred on the HERC decision and the proposed parallel distribution licence. The district administration’s talks with the employees had not produced a resolution by the time of the report.
