Amidst claims by the administration about restoration of power across Doda and Kishtwar district, protests erupted at Bhaderwah on Tuesday, where electric supply has not been restored even after a week of the snowstorm.
The locals gathered at TakiaChowk and Seri Bazar on Tuesday afternoon and staged demonstrations against the additional district administration, as the power restoration work has, reportedly, not begun in the town itself.
On Saturday, superintending engineer Chenab region, AsgarHussain, had declared that post snowfall, power restoration will not take more than three days in Doda.
On the other hand, the protesters alleged, “In reality, it has not been restored and the process is going on at snail’s pace with the concerned department showing no urgency or seriousness.”
The irked residents claimed that the entire Valley has been reeling under darkness since the past seven days, as the “PDD has failed to restore power despite fair weather since the past four days”.
“The local administration seems to be in deep slumber and least bothered to bail out the resident from the crisis. This has made our life miserable and forced us to come onto the roads, so that our problem is addressed,” said MushtaqChunna, a protester.
Advocate Mohammad Majid Malik expressed dismay over the “sluggish approach” of administration in mitigating problems of people arising from recent snowfall. “There is no electricity in Bhaderwah, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban and other parts of the region since the past five days at least. PDD is trying to restore power supply, but to no avail as the field staff is without the required infrastructure and equipments to replace the damage machinery, poles, wires, transformers and insulators,” he said.
He urged the governor Satya Pal Malik to look into the problem of Chenab Valley and demanded strict action against the local administration and “erring” PDD officials.
The protesters also said that due to power failure ATMs have also stopped working and they are unable to withdraw money since the past 5 days. They threatened that if the administration fails to restore essential services, they will intensify their agitation.