While the Peoples Democratic Party launched an online “meter free” campaign, the Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party staged a protest in Srinagar
Increasing power and electricity bills in Kashmir have prompted strong reactions from major political parties both on the road and the digital space. While the Peoples Democratic Party launched an online “meter free” campaign, the Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party staged a protest in Srinagar.
The protesters, a majority of whom were party workers, were not allowed to march towards Lal Chowk by the police. They then demanded that there be no arbitrary increase in the bills or installation of water meters in the Valley.
Speaking about the party’s online campaign, a senior PDP leader said, “The power department has started increasing power tariff/bills from the past one year even in the areas where power supply is not satisfactory, the charges of electricity have been doubled or have been massively increased/.”
“Meter Free Jammu and Kashmir – Sign the Petition@MehboobaMufti,” PDP wrote on X.
Apni Party workers carried out a march from Sheikh Bagh, which houses the party headquarters, only to be stopped by police. They staged a sit-in before being dispersed peacefully.
Waqar H Bhatti, a senior leader of Apni Party, said the people were being denied their genuine rights of electricity. “The power produced from our rivers is being provided at higher rates,” he added.
Apni Party spokesperson, Muntazir Mohiuddin said the people are ready to pay what they use, “Unfortunately the bills are increasing and most of the areas are without electricity. We only took our protest to highlight our genuine grievances. We are peace loving people and the government shouldn’t exploit us.”
He said that the government is now planning to install water meters in Kashmir, adding, “This is ironic. Our resources are now being used to exploit us. We want lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha and the central government should intervene in this otherwise people will have no option but to hit the streets.”
For the past six months, consumers have been complaining that the power department is sending inflated bills by 100 to 300 percent and revising load agreements in one-sided decisions without consulting the consumers. The people say that the consumers are being humiliated by the officials for raising their voice.