Farmers in Bathinda, Muktsar and Mansa districts are up in arms against the state government over inadequate power supply for irrigating their paddy fields, alleging that they are receiving only three to four hours of electricity daily against the promised eight-hour free power supply for tubewells.Several protests have been lodged in these districts over the past three days. At some places, farmers entered power grid premises to lodge their protest, while at others they blocked roads and raised slogans against the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).On Thursday, farmers in Bathinda district blocked the Maur-Rampura Phul road at Mandi Kalan village and also lodged protests at the power grid at Ghasokhana village and the power grid at Talwandi Sabo. Earlier, protests were held at the power grid in Malout town and at the power grid at Aulakh village in Muktsar district. Farmers had also protested at the power grid at Jodhpur Pakhar village in Bathinda district on Wednesday. In Mansa, the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) activists lodged a protest outside the power grid at Mansa.Lakhvir Singh, a farmer from Bhai Bakhtaur village in Bathinda, said, “The paddy crop requires water at this stage and the fields are developing cracks. However, we are not getting even four hours of uninterrupted power supply to irrigate our fields. We are upset and are forced to lodge protests.”Farmers from Mari, Burj Sema, Bhai Bakhtaur, Ramgarh Bhundar, Yatri and Chanarthal villages have announced that they will block the Bathinda-Mansa road on Friday for two hours if the adequate power supply is not provided.A power department official at Talwandi Sabo said electricity was being supplied according to the schedule issued by the PSPCL head office in Patiala. He attributed the shortage to lower power generation. He linked the situation to reduced generation at the Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant (GHTP) at Lehra Mohabbat village in Bathinda district. For nearly three weeks, three units remained non-operational, while one unit generated around 170 MW. The plant has a total generation capacity of 920 MW. At present, two units are operational and producing nearly 400 MW.A large number of workers at the thermal plant are protesting for direct engagement with PSPCL, which has affected the plant’s functioning.A senior PSPCL officer said he was aware of the issue but declined to comment, saying the supply schedule was decided by the head office. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to contact Harparveen Singh, Chief Engineer, PSPCL, Bathinda, proved futile.The weather turned cloudy today, and some areas received light rainfall.