Baramulla, Mar 5 : The residents of Khanpora Baramulla held a protest against the installation of smart meters on Sunday.
The aggrieved residents blocked the Baramulla-Uri highway for several hours and urged the administration to roll back the order.
While raising slogans against the PDD department, the protesters, mostly women, said that the installation of smart meters is not acceptable to them. They said they will resist the move as they are not in a position to pay the electricity bills as per the new tariff.
As the number of protesting women swelled, the cops from the nearby police station rushed to the area and ended the road blockade after convincing the protesting people that their grievances will be forwarded to the higher authorities.
The protesting women said that the maximum population of the Khanpora area is living below the poverty line. They said members of a few families are doing government jobs while the rest of the people are feeding their families by performing manual jobs.
“While terming the new order “anti-people” the protesting women said that they are already facing severe hardships on account of growing inflation and now the new electricity tariff will “break the back of marginally deprived people of the area.”
“The UT administration must provide some relief to the people,” said Abida, a protesting woman. “We are reeling under severe poverty. It is extremely difficult for us to pay electricity as per the new tariff,” added Abida.
