Overview
- Protests by farmer unions, opposition parties and industrial associations spread across Punjab after months of erratic supply that protest leaders say has left irrigation and factories unable to run.
- Punjab State Power Corporation Limited blamed technical outages at the Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo thermal plants and said major generating units have resumed and temporary restrictions were withdrawn.
- Farmers say they are getting only two to two-and-a-half hours of tubewell power instead of the promised eight hours, which they say threatens paddy irrigation at a critical stage.
- Industrialists in Ludhiana reported outages up to 14 hours, briefly blockaded NH-5 and warned of sharp production and revenue losses for dyeing and other continuous-process units.
- Police detained protesters and used water cannon in Patiala, and unions have given the government a September 16 deadline to respond or face broader action, raising political pressure ahead of assembly elections.