At times, residents of Jammu feel as though the clock has turned back to the 1990s, an era widely remembered for erratic and prolonged power cuts. Despite technological advancement, infrastructure upgrades, and the official designation of Jammu as a Smart City, the ground reality for many electricity consumers appears discouragingly unchanged. Scheduled and unscheduled power outages continue to disrupt daily life, creating inconvenience, uncertainty, and growing frustration among households and businesses alike. For many citizens, the day begins with an all-too-familiar scenario: waking up to find there is no electricity. Throughout the day, supply interruptions often occur multiple times, and during peak evening hours — especially around dinner time - power cuts frequently return. This recurring pattern has led to public disappointment and sharp criticism of the power distribution system operating in the region. The contrast between the Smart City label and the lived experience of residents has become a subject of debate in civil circles and public discussions. Winter months, in particular, bring heightened hardship. Jammu city and its adjoining areas regularly experience what consumers describe as an acute power crisis during the cold season. Electricity demand rises due to heating needs, yet supply reliability often declines. Consumers expect stable and uninterrupted power during extreme weather conditions, but repeated outages undermine these expectations. The situation raises serious questions about load management, infrastructure preparedness, and seasonal planning by the concerned authorities.

The introduction of smart meters across Jammu was presented as a major reform intended to modernize billing, improve accountability, reduce transmission losses, and enhance service delivery. A large number of households have complied with the smart metering initiative and pay their electricity bills on time through digital and automated systems. However, many consumers now question the tangible benefits of this transition. From their perspective, while billing efficiency may have improved, supply reliability has not kept pace. The perceived imbalance between prompt bill recovery and inconsistent service delivery has contributed to dissatisfaction and distrust. Public sentiment further reflects concern over the condition of physical infrastructure. Numerous electricity poles across the city are reportedly decades old, with some cemented poles showing visible cracks and signs of structural weakness. Residents fear that such deteriorating assets pose safety hazards, particularly during storms, heavy rains, or strong winds. While new poles are being installed in certain areas through contracted private agencies, citizens note that many old and damaged poles remain in place rather than being systematically dismantled and replaced. The resulting landscape in some localities is cluttered with redundant or unused poles, creating both visual disorder and potential risk. Consumers have also voiced grievances about unresolved complaints related to pole shifting, removal of redundant cables, and correction of hazardous line alignments. In several cases, residents allege that they must visit departmental offices repeatedly without receiving timely resolution. This repeated runaround discourages public engagement and erodes confidence in grievance redressal mechanisms. There is a growing perception that complaint handling lacks transparency, responsiveness, and accountability. Some consumers have further alleged high-handed behavior by outsourced field staff, though such claims would require formal verification through administrative inquiry.
Another serious concern being raised by consumers is that the Jammu Power Development Department Ltd at times disconnects electricity supply without prior intimation or notice. While it is understandable that power supply may be disconnected if a consumer fails to pay electricity bills for two or three months, there should at least be a proper warning before such action is taken. A telephonic intimation and an SMS alert should be issued in advance so that the consumer has a fair opportunity to clear the dues. Such abrupt disconnections without prior communication are widely perceived as harsh and insensitive. Essential services like electricity must be administered with accountability and basic consumer courtesy. Even during earlier administrative regimes, citizens believe that more procedural notice was given before taking punitive action. It is therefore disappointing that, even decades after independence, consumers still face such treatment. The power department should take serious note of this issue and establish a transparent, humane, and well-communicated disconnection policy that protects both revenue interests and consumer rights.
Privatization and outsourcing of certain operational functions in the power sector were intended to improve efficiency, reduce losses, and professionalize service delivery. While such reforms can succeed when properly regulated and monitored, their effectiveness depends heavily on performance benchmarks, contractual enforcement, and consumer protection safeguards. Where oversight is weak or feedback systems are ineffective, the expected service improvements may not reach end users. That gap between policy intent and field execution appears to be at the heart of current public dissatisfaction. From a technical standpoint, uninterrupted power supply in a growing urban center requires continuous feeder upgrades, transformer capacity enhancement, preventive maintenance, vegetation management near lines, real-time fault detection, and rapid response teams. It also requires accurate demand forecasting for both winter and summer peaks. With rising appliance usage, air-conditioning load, and commercial expansion, electricity demand in Jammu is expected to increase further in the coming summers. Without proactive strengthening of the distribution network, outage frequency may rise rather than fall. Consumer trust is built not only on supply reliability but also on communication. Advance outage notices, transparent maintenance schedules, SMS alerts, and real-time fault updates can significantly reduce public frustration even when shutdowns are unavoidable. Modern utilities worldwide invest heavily in customer communication platforms alongside hardware upgrades. Jammu’s power utility could benefit from expanding such consumer-facing systems so that citizens are informed rather than surprised by outages. A Smart City designation carries with it an expectation of dependable core services - electricity being foremost among them. Smart meters, digital billing, and administrative restructuring are important steps, but they must translate into visible service improvement. Reliable, safe, and uninterrupted electricity supply is not a luxury; it is an essential urban necessity that supports education, healthcare, commerce, digital services, and household well-being.
In conclusion, the concerns being voiced by electricity consumers in Jammu reflect a genuine demand for reliability, safety, and responsive governance. Aging infrastructure must be audited and replaced where necessary, redundant poles and cables should be removed, and grievance redressal systems must become faster and more citizen-friendly. Performance of private contractors should be closely monitored, and accountability standards should be strictly enforced. The Jammu Power Development Corporation Ltd is earnestly requested to strengthen its distribution network, improve complaint handling, ensure infrastructure safety, and deliver consistent, uninterrupted power supply to the people of Jammu. Only then will the promise of a truly “Smart City” be meaningfully fulfilled for Jammu’s residents.

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