Bhawanipatna bandh protests unscheduled power cuts

The Pioneer, May 6, 2010
PNS, Bhawanipatna

The simmering resentment among the locals against the unscheduled power cuts has led to a bandh call here claimed to be for an indefinite period unitedly given by the Kalahandi Business Association and other forums.

The bandh call received a spontaneous response from the locals following which all the business and other private establishments downed their shutters since morning on Wednesday.

Even the filling stations remained closed compounding to commuters’ woes. However the banks and other Government offices functioned as usual.

As per reports, the business association, citizen forum, Kalahandi Bar and others had held discussions with the WESCO executive engineer and the Collector several times demanding scheduled power cuts, but to no avail. The locals have demanded the immediate transfer of the WESCO executive engineer arguing that the department has defied the State Government’s instructions not to go in for unscheduled power cuts.

Need to be mentioned that, a WESCO vigilance team had come here on April 24 which was vehemently protested by the locals and both the Bar and business associations took exceptions to the frequent power interruptions and illegal connections in both the town and the rural areas.

The executive engineer had promised to take actions against the power pilferages.

But, the matter turned ugly when the electricity department had lodged an FIR against a few members of the business association and in retaliation the business association had also lodged a counter FIR and had demanded the withdrawal of false cases filed against them.

Though the political leaders are not taking any interest in the intermittent power cuts, locals have raised their grave concerns over the issue which may hamper the leaders poll prospects in the forthcoming elections, political observers here viewed.