There is palpable discontent over the government’s failure to deliver on promised development following the scrapping of the State’s special status.
Even as political parties in Jammu and Kashmir go about wooing voters for the Lok Sabha election—Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar and Baramulla constituencies in Kashmir vote from May 7—the Valley is facing a severe power crisis that has thrown normal life out of gear. The daily power cuts last 13 to 15 hours, plunging the Valley into darkness on most days; the worst affected are patients who rely on home oxygen supply for respiratory illnesses.
After politics, power supply seems to be the biggest concern in Kashmir. Even the Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, during his address after Friday prayers last week, termed the electricity situation in Kashmir as “alarming”. “We are told that prosperity has come, but the basic facility of electricity is nowhere; this is impacting our daily lives, leaving our homes and businesses powerless. Despite having huge water resources and generation capacity, electricity produced by Jammu and Kashmir is exported outside, plunging the Valley into darkness,” said Farooq at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid.
This story was originally published in frontline.thehindu.com. Read the full story here.