Man carries 100-year-old mother on trolley rickshaw in Malkangiri
MALKANGIRI: Alleging high-handedness of electricity supply authorities, a 70-year-old man carried his ailing mother for over 20 km on a trolley rickshaw on NH-326 to the Collector’s office on Sunday as a mark of protest against power disconnection to his house.
Deepak Dey of MV-41 village within Malkangiri police limits, said his 100-year-old mother is suffering from age-related health complications and on oxygen support. As per doctor’s advice, Dey had installed an air cooler and fan for her comfort. But due to disconnection of power since October 26, her health has been deteriorating.
As per Dey’s claims, staff of Tata Power South Odisha Distribution Limited (TPSODL) snapped power supply to both his house and lift irrigation point citing non-payment of dues despite his repeated requests not to do so. The staff also destroyed the maize field adjacent to the transformer near his house, he alleged.
Dey said, the electricity connection was in his wife Seema’s name. On October 16, she received a bill of Rs 696 for domestic consumption for which she paid Rs 700 and has the receipt. For the lift irrigation point, they had an outstanding bill of Rs 21,392 of which they had paid Rs 7,000 on September 29. He also added that he approached the officials to restore the power service but none paid heed.
A marginal farmer, Dey said he has already spent about Rs 3 lakh on his mother’s treatment in Asha Kiran hospital at Lamataput in Koraput district and requires Rs 5 lakh more but now, her life is at risk due to apathy of electricity supply officials. Desperate to draw the attention of the authorities concerned he decided to take his sick mother on a trolley rickshaw and went to the Collector’s office.
After getting the information, officials of TPSODL, police and administration reached the spot on the NH and tried to persuade him to get his mother admitted to the district headquarters hospital by assuring power restoration but he refused.
TPSODL sub divisional officer Suraj Kumar Pattnaik said Dey had a pending bill of Rs 21,392 towards lift irrigation point. When they got to know about his mother’s condition, the staff went to restore electricity but Dey did not allow them to enter the transformer area on the premises of his house.As opposed to Dey’s claims of Rs 7000 part payment, nothing is showing up online, he said. Sources said, while Dey was on his way protesting, power supply was restored to his house in the evening.