Tral residents protest hike in power tariff
Requests government to reconsider decision
Pulwama: The residents of different villages of Tral sub division in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday staged a protest at PDD office Tral over hike in their monthly bills.
The residents of Naristan, Branpathti, Zizbal, Hajan, Bathnoor, Lam and its adjacent areas protested at PDD office Tral alleging that their monthly tariff has been increased from 100-550 and they won’t be able to afford it.
Bashir Ahmad, a local resident said that these areas were connected through a central government scheme in recent years and initially their monthly fee was just Rs 25.
He said that meters were installed at our location but later they were disconnected and the residents were told to pay a monthly bill of Rs 100.
He further added that most of these people spent around 5-8 months in forests and they were submitting fee of these months as well.
Aaqib Ahmad, another local said that later the monthly fee was increased to Rs 200 and as a result many households were unable to submit their monthly dues.
He said that now their monthly fee has increased to Rs 550 per and it seems impossible for these poor people to pay the amount.
Locals said that government must either re-install meters or reconsider their decision of hike in tariffs.
Jahangeer Ganaie
