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| Nai Basti residents stage protest against inflated power bills | | |  Early Times Report
JAMMU, Mar 25: Residents of the Nai Basti area of the city today staged a protest demonstration against the Power Development Department (PDD) for getting inflated electricity bills.
Protesting residents including children, youth and women raised slogans against the PDD and blocked the road for some time to express their resentment.
The irate residents informed that they are receiving inflated bills which are touching figures upto Rs 5 lakh whereas they are consuming very less electricity.
The residents said that the exaggerated bills are due to pendency of old bills which they could not pay due to frequent lockdowns in the wake of a long stretch of Covid pandemic.
"Most of the people residing in this locality are economically backward and source of income is mainly on a day to day basis which was badly hit due to constant lockdowns in the last two years. As there was no income we were unable to pay our pending bills. The PDD is now asking us to pay the previous bills which are amounting to several lakhs," a woman resident said.
She urged the government to waive off the bills issued during the pandemic period, adding that it is impossible for them to pay such a huge amount in one go or in installments.
"We are ready to pay our current bills but the government should consider the request of the residents to waive off the pending amount against previous bills," she said.
A few other residents said that they get electricity only 4-5 hours a day but despite that the PDD officials are sending them inflated bills, adding that if the situation of power curtailments is so severe in the month of March then what would be the scenario during the peak of summers when power consumption increases manifold.
Locals said that they had approached the PDD officials on several occasions but they are not willing to listen to their grievances. They appealed to the Lieutenant Governor to intervene in the matter and resolve the issue as soon as possible. |
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