Protests rocked the public hearing organised by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) over power tariff hike proposals here on Saturday.
Organised amid unprecedented security after cordoning off the area leading to AMCOSA auditorium, the police took into custody several protesters who managed to gain entry into the venue and tried to disrupt the proceedings, raising slogans against curbs imposed on entry to the public hearing.
The proceedings continued amid frequent interruptions and pandemonium.
Left party activists led by CPI district secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy and CPI (M) district secretary K. Loknadham protested against steep increase in power tariff and demanded cancellation of the hearing. CPI (M) city secretary B. Ganga Rao questioned the rationale behind holding the hearing at a time when there was uncertainty over maintaining the status of Andhra Pradesh as one State.
When the appeals by APERC Chairman V. Bhaskar failed to pacify the protesters and the din continued, he adjourned the meeting for 10 minutes. There was some semblance of order when it resumed, but the CPI activists along with Mr. Satyanarayana Murthy and former corporator A.J. Stalin resorted to a novel protest by squatting before the dais and raising slogans against tariff hike proposal.
Tariff deficitThe meeting began with a presentation by APEPDCL Chairman-cum-Managing M.V. Seshagiri Babu.
It has been proposed to increase tariff by Rs.1,800 crore, leaving a deficit of Rs.815.74 crore. The protesters said that the per-unit cost would go up by Rs.1.59 and the average hike would be 31 per cent. Not only the Left parties, farmers, consumers’ organisations, and industrialists registered their protest against the proposals. Representative of FAPCCI T. Sujata said till four years ago, Andhra Pradesh used to be one of the States with low power tariff. Now, with the new proposals, it would emerge as one of the States with the highest power tariff. Vizag Development Council vice-president O. Naresh Kumar advocated tariff rationalisation on the basis of efficiency and performance of Discoms. He said T&D losses were less than 6 per cent in APEPDCL, whereas it was around 14 per cent in APCPDCL (Hyderabad area).
Human chainMembers of the Insurance Corporation Employees’ Union’s Visakhapatnam Division and FMRAI organised a human chain at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Circle near LIC building opposing the proposed hike in power tariff.
