||Black and White Digital News ||

||Parvinder Singh July 21,2024 ||

Jammu: Hundreds of residents from border villages in RS Pura, led by Taranjit Singh Tony, General Secretary of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee and DDC Suchetgarh, staged a protest against the J&K Government over irregular and prolonged power cuts. The protesters, who gathered at the office of the Managing Director of Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (JPDCL), highlighted the severe impact of these outages on daily life, particularly on children and farmers during the crucial paddy season.

Tony and the protesters voiced their concerns, emphasizing the adverse effects of power outages on daily activities, such as children’s sleep and school attendance, and farmers’ ability to irrigate their fields. They questioned how the BJP Government’s promise of doubling farmers’ income could be achieved without a reliable power supply.

Key Issues Raised by Protesters:

Inhumane Approach by Power Department:

Tony accused the Power Department of adopting an inhumane approach by failing to provide adequate power to farmers and residents. He highlighted the urgent need to augment the 10 MV power transformer at Village Beaspur to ensure a stable power supply.

Exorbitant Billing Practices:

Tony criticized the Power Department for raising bills almost 300 times higher without any justification, labeling it as an unjust and exploitative practice. He called for immediate rectification of this issue.

Demands of the Protesters:

Equal Load Distribution:The protesters demanded equal load distribution across affected areas to ensure a reliable power supply.

Creation of New Feeders:They called for the establishment of new feeders to alleviate the power crisis.

Augmentation of Power Stations: Specifically, they urged the augmentation of the Miran Sahib power station and the Beaspur feeder.

A deputation of protesters, led by Tony, met with the MD of JPDCL to discuss these issues. The MD assured the deputation that efforts would be made to prioritize the augmentation of power infrastructure and ensure equal load distribution to mitigate the ongoing issues.

Prominent local leaders, including former Sarpanch Rashpal Singh Gill, Naib Sarpanch Darshan Choudhary, Ex Sarpanch Sarabjit Singh, Kala Choudhary, and Satvinder Singh, supported the protest, underscoring the widespread discontent and the urgent need for government intervention to address the power crisis and billing issues in the region.