Chandigarh: An acute shortage of power across the state has forced the Punjab government to announce that office timings in all government offices will be changed from 1 August (Wednesday).

The government also ordered a complete ban on the use of air-conditioners in all government offices, boards and corporations in the state with immediate effect till further orders.

A passenger sits as others sleep inside the compartment of a stationary train following the power outage that struck in the early hours of Monday.

“To cope up with the acute power shortage due to deficient rainfall during the monsoon in the state, the Punjab government today (Sunday) decided to change the office timings from 8 am to 2 pm without lunch break in all the government offices, boards and corporations across the state till further orders with effect from 1 August, 2012,” a spokesman of the chief minister’s office said here.

The spokesman said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the chief secretary to issue detailed instructions to the district administrations in this regard to ensure necessary steps to curtail power consumption during the power crisis.

Punjab has reported 65 percent deficit rainfall this year. With power generation hitting a low, power cuts ranging from eight to 15 hours are common at various places.

“All the districts heads of offices would be solely responsible for ensuring strict compliance of these instructions. These would also be applicable to the camp offices of divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and SSPs (senior superintendents of police) besides the commissioners of municipal corporations,” the spokesman said.

Supply of drinking water would be ensured at the door steps of residents in cities and the towns through water tankers in view of acute water shortage, he added.