Chandigarh, Jun 13 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday assured farmers to provide regular and uninterrupted power supply during the paddy season.

According to an official statement, Mann said the state government has taken a conscientious decision to conserve the state's precious natural resource in terms of groundwater by allowing paddy transplantation in a phased manner across the state from June 10 to 17.

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Resultantly, the chief minister said Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had already been directed to ensure a minimum of eight hours of power supply to farmers during the ongoing paddy season.

Showing deep concern over the fast depleting groundwater level, the chief minister urged the farmers to make judicious use of water.

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Mann has already given detailed instructions to PSPCL to make sure that the power supply to other categories of consumers, especially the households, should not be hampered and ensure they too get regular power supply during the peak summer season, the statement said.

Elaborate arrangements have already been made by the PSPCL to meet the total expected demand of 15,000 megawatt, which includes farm sector requirement for paddy, it added.

To meet this demand, the transmission capacity to procure from outside the state has been enhanced to 8,500 MW as against 7,100 MW in the last season and the remaining power of 6,500 MW is being arranged from its sources within the state, as per the statement.

According to the estimates of the state agriculture department, the farmers are likely to sow paddy over an area of nearly 29 lakh hectares, of which high-quality basmati variety of rice is expected to be sown over an area of 6.50 lakh hectares, besides other varieties of paddy on the remaining area of 22.80 lakh hectares during the current Kharif season.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)