category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had endangered the farm and industrial economy of Punjab by driving PSPCL to bankruptcy by denying subsidy to it and forcing it to take loans to cover under- estimated expenditure of Rs 7,000 crore. He also asserted that the very existence of PSPCL as an independent corporation was at stake with control of day to day functioning being handed over to a Bangalore-based private company. Terming these developments as extremely disturbing, the SAD President said the situation if allowed to continue would lead to a catastrophe. The mismanagement of PSPCL is leading to widespread cuts during the winter when demand is low. Since the Corporation has not undertaken any exercise to cater to the increase in demand in summer, particularly during the paddy transplantation season, it could well endanger the paddy crop . Asserting that chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was allowing PSPCL to go into a downward spiral, Mr Badal said the government is denying subsidy for free power being supplied by the corporation to farmers. He said the backlog in subsidy payments due to the Corporation are Rs 9,000 crore. Besides this the government has under estimated expenditure on power subsidy by Rs 7,500 crore. This is the reason why PSPCL is being forced to take on periodic loans with the latest loan of Rs 500 crore being taken recently . Asserting that all this had taken a toll on PSPCL, including its inability to even undertake routine repair and maintenance works, Mr Badal said governance has also been affected with a private Bangalore-based firm being given control over day to day functioning of the utility. This control has been given illegally in the same manner in which private consultants are being allowed to assess government files on the orders of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal . Asking the chief minister to take control of the situation and ensure the power utility does not collapse, Mr Badal said it is unfortunate that PSPCL, which had been ranked as a number one utility in the country during SAD government tenure, has been downgraded now. He also asked the chief minister to fill all vacancies in the corporation besides releasing funds for repair and maintenance works on an urgent basis. (editor dailyworld.in)