AJK TODAY: By: Altaf Hamid Rao. POWER CONSUMERS STREET AGITATION AGAINST OVER BILLING ENTERS 9TH SUCCESSIVE DAY IN MIRPUR: Stages Dharna (Sit in) to press WAPDA and AJK Electricity Department for slashing the power tariff for Mirpur acknowledging their supreme sacrifices for construction and raising of Mangla Dam. MIRPUR (AJK): Dec. 23: Local Power consumers continued street agitation the 9th consecutive day here on Tuesday to protest against the over billing of electricity and press the AJK Government for early withdrawal of the recent alleged exceptional raise in power tariff. At the same time, local power consumers have stopped depositing the amount of the electricity bills served to them for the last ending month of November according to the raised tariff. The power consumers have been asked to submit their electricity bills to the Mirpur Protection Forum instead of depositing the amounts in the banks or other designated branches. Life was partially affected in Mirpur on Tuesday after a large number of protestant consumers of electricity blocked the main artery to the city – the Allama Iqbal Road by staging sit-in for several hours in front of the local main electricity department office to register their resentment against the over billing and to press the AJK government to immediately reduce the power tariff to facilitate the population of Mirpur city which holds the country’s largest reservoir Mangla Dam in its lap. The local population from all segments of the civil affected the routine business of life by staging sit-in in front of the offices of the AJK Electricity Department to protest against, the intolerable over billing of electricity bills served to the local consumers dwelling in the city. Call for the indefinite street protest has been given by Mirpur Protection Forum comprising series of organizations representing the people of all walks of life to register strong indignation against recent over billing with heavy increase in power tariff and serving of the bills of intolerable amounts to the consumers of Mirpur by the AJK State Electricity Department. The Mirpur Protection Forum has already declared that no any local power consumer of Mirpur district would deposit the bills of the electricity of the previous, existing and coming months unless the power tariff is reduced to the previous scale by the AJK government to facilitate the Mirpur population. The Forum’s President Ayub Muslim announced to continue Dhana (sit in) daily at Allama Iqbal Road till the acceptance of its demands by WAPDA and the AJK Electricity Department. The protest program would continue till the acceptance of the demands by the AJK government especially the early withdrawal of recent heavy increase in the rates of electricity imposed on the consumers in Mirpur district. Hundreds of the protestants including members of the business community, lawyers, journalistas, employees of private and public sector organisaion, social , political and human rights activists and students participated in Dharna (Sit-in) to express solidarity with the ongoing protest program launched against the overbilling. Addressing the participants Mirpur Protection Forum’s President Muhammad Ayub Muslim, Presidents and other office bearers of of respective factions of local Traders Organisations (Anjuman e Tajraan) Mirpur including Sohail Shujah Mujahid, Ch. Muhammad Naeem , Raja Khalid Mahmood, senior journalists Shakeel Turabi, Altaf Hamid Rao, Raja Sohrab Ahmed Khan, Ch. Khalid Hussain, President Mirpur District Bar Association Ch. Khalid Rasheed, ex President DBA Kamran Tariq Advocate, chief of J & K Plebiscite Front Mohammad Azeem Dutt Advocate aand others bitterly criticized WAPDA and the AJK Electricity Department for imposing heavy billing of electricity upon the local consumers defying all commitments and agreements in the wake of the construction and later recent upraising of the country’s biggest reservoir – Mangla Dam. Raising full throat slogans against WAPDA and the AJK Electricity Department, speakers announced to continue the current strike program in the city against the over billing of electricity to press WAPDA and the AJK government for early acceptance of the long-standing demand of immediate withdrawal of recent over billing comprising intolerable raise in power tariff besides complete exemption of Mirpur from the power outage in acknowledgement of the great sacrifices by the people of Mirpur district by accommodating a major reservoir – the Mangla dam on its soil for the socio economic progress and prosperity of Pakistan. Ends
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 16:06:10 +0000
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