Angry over the reduced hours of power supply and indiscriminate power shutdowns in their villages, farmers of Ainapur and surrounding villages laid a siege to the office of Hubballi Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) in Kagwad of Belagavi district on Thursday and kept the office under lock for some time.
The farmers were upset over the sudden decision to reduce the power supply duration from seven hours to three hours, which affected their schedule to irrigate their farmland.
The protesting farmers said that there is only lip sympathy for farmers and no genuine efforts to resolve their demands. All of a sudden, the officials reduced power supply to villages from seven hours to three hours.
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And, as a result, they have been not able to irrigate their farmland. Already, floods caused a lot of damage in the kharif season and now, when water is required for the next crop, HESCOM officials are further creating problems, they added.
Taking part in the agitation, farmers from Ainapur, Mole, Katrala, Krishna Kittur and other villages demanded that the seven-hour power supply schedule be resumed immediately. If not, they will be forced to intensify their agitation, they said.