Irate over the erratic power supply, farmers attacked the sub-station at Ramayampet on Friday, They destroyed furniture and organised rasta roko for about two hours.
According to sources, frequent power cuts was taking place at several villages in Alladurg mandal for the past few days and repeated appeals by farmers had not yielded any result. Two days ago, farmers of some villages held dharna demanding to solve the but officials failed to address the issue as promised in 24 hours.
Some of the farmers from Rampur village held dharna on Thursday night and continued their agitation on Friday morning. They also destroyed some of the furniture at the sub-station and continued their dharna on Narayanakhe and Sangareddy highway. As a result the traffic on the road came to a stand still and police had to intervene. The issue was referred to Transco Divisional Engineer Vijayakumar.
Mr. Vijayakumar had assured to address the issue by next week. If he failed to resolve the issues, farmers can hold dharna in front of his house, he told them. Following an assurance, the farmers withdrew their agitation.
Sub-stations ransacked
Kurnool Special Correspondent writes: A huge gathering of farmers stormed sub-stations at Bukkapuram near Mahanandi and Sirivel in Kurnool district on Friday. The angry farmers ransacked the offices and broke furniture. At Sirivel, the protesters chased staff including Assistant Engineer Maddileti. The protesters turned violent at Bukkapuram too and ransacked the office.
The farmers said the kharif crop and nursery beds were damaged due to erratic power supply.
Farmers’ dharna
Khammam Staff Reporter writes: Simmering discontent among farmers over the long hours of power cuts has led to widespread protests in the district on Friday.
The protests, which started late on Thursday night in Madhira, Yerrupalem, Dummugudem and Julurupadu mandals, gradually spread to other mandals as the power supply position became precarious. Consumption of power over and above the allotted daily quota of 4.95 million units to the district has resulted in unscheduled load-shedding in many parts of the district, including Khammam.
Farmers, staged a dharna in front of the APTransco Divisional Engineer’s office at Sattupalli. MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah led the agitation. The protesters displayed a replica of a defunct electricity sub-station to highlight the plight of the consumers. Traffic on the Thallada-Devarapalli State highway was disrupted for nearly an hour. The police detained the protesters including the MLA and later let them off.
T-PJAC Chairman M. Kodandaram took part in a demonstration organised by the villagers at Keshavapuram in Kusumanchi mandal. Earlier, his vehicle got stuck in a traffic jam at Keshavapuram owing to a road blockade staged by villagers. Similar demonstrations were organised by agitated villagers in Madhira, Yellendu, Mulkalapalli and several other mandals.
Detain Transco workers
Adilabad Staff Reporter writes: Villagers at several places in Adilabad district staged protests against the frequent power cuts being imposed by the APTransco. At Jannaram, BJP activists detained three workers of the Transco by locking them in their office on Thursday.
They also staged a rasta roko in front of Jannaram bus stand demanding power supply. The protesters accused the government of imposing late night power cuts without an announcement.
At Boath, people held a demonstration in front of the Transco office.
