BARGARH: In a continuing wave of opposition, farmers of Bargarh district reignited their protest against Tata Power Western Odisha Distribution Limited (TPWODL) from Barpali block over the installation of smart meters and rising electricity bills on Monday.
Despite earlier discussions with Tata Power officials to address their concerns, a large group of farmers, accompanied by locals, launched an unannounced protest marching up to the TPWODL grid office in Barpali and dumped their electricity meters outside the office in a symbolic act of defiance.
While the demonstration was launched on Monday, it took the authorities by surprise, as they were not expecting the resurgence of the agitation so soon after the initial discussions with the agitators.
The farmers and locals alleged that the smart meters are tampered with to exploit consumers by furnishing them with inflated electricity bills. This apart, the farmers have been demanding waiver of electricity bills for agricultural activities, besides the provision of free electricity up to 300 units announced during election campaigning.
On Monday, the farmers, residents of Barpali besides representatives of several organisations and business associations first held a meeting at the marketyard in Barpali before the protest.
Subsequently, they took out a huge rally under the banner of Sanjukta Krushak Sangathan and went to the tehsildar office. After a brief demonstration, the agitators handed over a five-point charter of demands to the tehsildar. The agitators then moved to the grid office where they dumped over a 1,000 electricity meters.
A member of Sanjukta Krushak Sangathan, Ramesh Mahapatra said the claims made by TPWODL were misleading and they are still against the installation of smart meters.
“We had a fruitful discussion and we are in favour of reinstallation of meters, but we wont allow installation of smart meters in any village. It is a tactic of the company to overcharge us. Besides our concerns have not been addressed. We will continue our protest are ready to face whatever be the consequence,” he warned. Meanwhile, TPWODL authorities have initiated fresh round of discussion with the local administration to prevent any escalation of the protests in the coming days.