PEDDAPALLI: A father’s ire has left four villages of Peddapalli in complete darkness for the last two days. Mallethhula Komuraiah, a farmer from Raginedu village in Peddapalli mandal, locked down the 33/11 KV sub-station of the Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (NPDCL) for the past couple of days plunging Raginedu, Brahmanapalli, Kurmapalli and Andugulapalli villages in complete darkness.
His anger is directed towards the NPDCL which has not provided a job that was earlier promised to his son. Around three years ago, Komuraiah had donated 20 guntas of his land — including the farm well — to the NPDCL to construct a sub-station.
Peddapalli MLA Dasari Manohar Reddy and other locals had reportedly convinced Komuraiah to donate the land on the terms of securing a job of operator for his son Nagaraju, who had completed his ITI recently.
A sub-station now stands on the land that once belonged to the farmer, but the job that was assured for his son went to someone else. It has been three years now that Komuraiah and his son Nagaraju have been running from pillar to post for the job, but to no avail.
On Monday, a vexed Komuraiah, along with his wife Renuka and son Nagaraju, decided to take things in their hands. As a protest against the discom, he locked the sub-station. Speaking to the media, Komuraiah lamented that on the promise of a job for his son, he donated land worth `25 lakh. He said that until justice is not delivered, he would not move from the sub-station.
The farmer claimed to have met the MLA and the discom authorities on several occasions, but nothing happened. Nagaraju, meanwhile, said that his father had registered the land in NPDCL’s name without his consent. “On a letter pad of the Grama Panchyat, a resolution was also passed for my job. The MLA’s recommendedation was also given,” Nagaraju recalled.