Shutdown, protest in Dooru against PDD for inflated bills

Anantnag, Mar 15: Amid complete shutdown, people in South Kashmir’s Dooru town of Anantnag district Monday staged protests and raised anti-PDD and government slogan for dispatching inflated bills, defunct electric meters and pesky power cuts in the area.

Eyewitnesses told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that over 250 protesting locals from different hamlets of the Dooru area including the traders community assembled in large numbers on the main road and closed it for several hours, while all shops and other business establishments remain closed in the town.

The protesters disrupted traffic and raised slogans against PDD alleging that despite not availing the benefits of electricity, they receive inflated bills.

“There are pesky power cuts. PDD doesn’t follow an electricity schedule and never dispatches bills in line with the electric meters,” the protesters said.

“The electric meters installed in the area are showing inaccurate consumption unit reading. The error by the department has left several consumers into inconvenience,” they said.

Locals demanded a reduction in electric bills, the rectification of an error in electric meters and power supply as per schedule. However, the protesters later dispersed peacefully.

Executive Engineer PDD Dooru, Fayaz Ahmad Shah told KNO that repair work in the Ramban transmission line has resulted in unscheduled power outages in the area.

“Despite heavy snowfall department provide scheduled electricity in the area till February 15. But due to some emergency repairing in the transmission line of Ramban we are not able to supply power as per schedule,” he said, adding that the problem will be resolved after the completion of repair work in the transmission line.

About the hike in power tariff, Shah said that they were ascertaining the consumption availed by the residents and locals can pay the power tariff in installments. —(KNO)