BJD protests smart meter rollout, gheraoes Tata Power office in Sambalpur

District BJD unit, led by former minister Rohit Pujari, staged a demonstration against alleged harassment of consumers, demanding withdrawal of smart meters, free units, and waiver of pending electricity dues.

Representative image of Smart Meters (File Photo)

SAMBALPUR: Protesting installation of smart electricity meters and alleging large-scale harassment of consumers, the district unit of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) gheraoed the office of Tata Power Western Odisha Distribution Limited (TPWODL) at Bhutapada in the city on Wednesday.

The protest led by BJD’s Sambalpur president and former minister Rohit Pujari, saw a large participation of party workers and supporters who walked up to the TPWODL office from Bhutapada chowk holding placards.

They also staged demonstration outside the power distribution company’s office before submitting a memorandum addressed to the TPWODL chief general manager, Bhubaneswar, through the superintending engineer, Sambalpur.

In its memorandum, the BJD accused Tata Power-run discoms of exploiting electricity consumers with the alleged backing of the BJP-led state government, calling the smart meter rollout across Odisha an anti-people move.

The BJD questioned the denial of free electricity to Odisha’s poor. It demanded withdrawal of smart meters, waiver of pending dues, 300 free units and end to power cuts and disconnections.