Ludhiana: Repeated power outages and a backup generator failure crippled routine administrative services and sewa kendra operations at the District Administrative Complex on Tuesday, stranding visitors for hours on the very day offices reopened after a five-day gap.The complex had remained closed due to a two-day staff strike, the weekend, and a holiday on Monday. When operations finally resumed, a transformer fault caused frequent supply interruptions—lasting hours at a time—before the complex’s backup generator overheated in the afternoon and was forced to shut down completely.The double failure brought computer systems to a halt, leaving residents who had travelled from various localities unable to get time-sensitive affidavits, birth certificates, and income certificates processed.Aman, master trainer at the sewa kendra, acknowledged that ongoing power disruptions severely delayed all operational tasks throughout the day.Visitors expressed deep frustration over the administrative breakdown.“I have been sitting here since morning, and there have been several power outages, leading to disruption of services. I have not been able to get the certificate, although it has been more than six hours,” said Navneet Kaur, a resident of Dugri who had come for an affidavit.A Punjab Roadways inspector waiting for his turn added, “I entered at around 2.30 pm, and the power went out almost immediately. I have now been waiting for about an hour and a half. Even the generator set is not working.”“I have been here since 2 pm, but the power outage was again leading to a delay in receiving the certificate that I had to submit today. I couldn’t come earlier because of weekend and holiday, and today, there is power outage,” said Aarti, a resident of Basant City who arrived at noon for an income certificate.Another visitor, Niranjan, who arrived at 12 pm for a birth certificate, noted that the power tripped four times within three hours, completely stalling his work.
