PANAJI
Residents from Anjuna staged a protest on Thursday against what they described as “unusually high” electricity bills, demanding immediate intervention. The agitation was held at the office of the Chief Electrical Engineer, Stephen Fernandes, at Vidhyut Bhavan in Panaji.
Protesters alleged that their latest bills were several times higher than their regular monthly charges, adding that the sudden hike had caused distress among households and businesses, forcing them to seek urgent relief from the government.
Officials from the Electricity Department have however attributed the higher bills in May due to penalties imposed on consumers whose consumption exceeded their sanctioned load.
They have advised residents to apply for enhancement of their sanctioned load to avoid future penalties.
The protesters, meanwhile, said higher electricity charges affects consumers across the State and demanded that the government launch public awareness drives to educate consumers on the issue of sanctioned load and the requirements to apply for enhancements.
They agitators also demanded a three‘to‘four‘month rebate period for consumers to regularise their sanctioned load without being subjected to steep fines.
The Anjuna residents also alleged that the hike was a backdoor attempt to push consumers into accepting smart meters and the excess load penalties were being used to corner households into compliance with the smart metering drive.
Adding a symbolic touch to the agitation, villagers organised a “pej andolan”, serving rice gruel to participants as a mark of protest. The gesture was meant to highlight the hardship faced by ordinary families struggling with inflated bills and forced to survive on rice gruel.
The meeting with Fernandes ended without a clear resolution, but residents vowed to continue pressing for their demands. The Anjuna residents were also joined in the protest by political leaders, including AAP State president, Valmiki Naik, and Congress leader Amit Palekar.
