Bhubaneswar: Intensifying its protest against frequent power outage and alleged irregularities in billing, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a demonstration in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
Alleging that there were irregularities in billing electricity consumers, BJP leaders and workers claimed that instead of issuing monthly bills, the power distributing company has been billing in a 40-day cycle.
A large number of slogan-shouting BJP activists holding banners and placards, gheraoed the Tata Power office in Odisha capital. A scuffle broke out after the saffron party activists tried to lock the main gate of the power distribution company, sources said.
The protesters alleged that the company is now collecting electricity bill from consumers on a 40-day billing cycle period. As a result, the consumers are being charged at higher slab rates for the 10 extra days, which could have been charged at much lesser rates in the next monthly bill.
BJP’s Bhubaneswar district president Babu Singh claimed that though Rs 20,000 crore was given for strengthening power infrastructure, no concrete step has so far been taken in this direction.
Though the Odisha government claimed that the state is power surplus state and Rs 20000 crore was spent for development of infrastructure, people face disruption in electricity supply, particularly during peak summer months, said another BJP leader.
