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{/googleAds} Industrialists have announced their intent to go all out on war against private discom Torrent for failing to meet the Supreme Court directive on uninterrupted power supply to the city. "They promptly destroyed Agra's industrial base to save Taj Mahal from pollution but failed to honour the apex court directive on power supply. Every time lights go off, thousands of diesel generators are switched on raising the air pollution level in the city," says Foundry Nagar industrialist Mathuresh Kumar.

Agra's National Chamber of Industries and Commerce has decided to post at least one lakh post cards to the Supreme Court in the next few days to highlight this problem.

Thousands of tons of potatoes stored in the cold storages on the perphery of the city, is under threat of rotting, if the erratic power supply was not controlled, warn potato cultivators. The Agra Cold Storage Owners' Association has sounded an alarm and has written to the UP chief minister to act fast to prevent a major crisis in the offing.

The rising temperature has increased the demand for water and power. "The state government appears baffled and confused on how to address these twin problems. Sometimes they plan for release of water into Yamuna from Ganges, at other times they want water channeled to Agra from Chambal. They have so many fancy projects but none workable. What kind of development our rulers keep talking about when they can not even fulfil the most basic needs of the masses," said Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.

The century old Agra Water Works is struggling with maintenance of the decadent pipeline network. An official says "we depend entirely on Yamuna water which is processed and made potable. But when the river is dry and the raw water supply is restricted, there is little we can do to meet the growing demand of the city." The state government has already spent tons of money on various projects without discernible change in the situation.

To cater to the needs of nearly 20 lakh population, the Agra Water Works is only in a position to provide pipeline connections to only around 2 lakh households.

Thousands of hand pumps installed at public places have become show pieces as the water lavel has gone down steeply, says social activist Naresh Paras.

On the power front the situation has worsened, say the office bearers of various bazar committees offering dharna and demonstrating regularly at the Torrent Power offices. "The situation is grim. Long break-downs for no ostensible reasons, unannounced load shedding, are the order of the day," says hotelier Sandeep Arora. "Its such a challenge keeping the tourists happy and comfortable these days, with the city struggling on both water and power supply fronts," adds Rakesh Chauhan, president of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association. "During summer months the inflow of domestic tourists goes up and they are unfortunately the worst sufferers," Chauhan adds.