Dhanbad, Jan 27 (PTI) Irked over frequent power cuts in parts of Jharkhand, BJP’s Dhanbad sadar MLA Raj Sinha on Thursday began a 72-hour sit-in at Randhir Verma Chowk here, seeking immediate restoration of normal electric supply.
Earlier this week, education minister Jagarnath Mahto has warned that coal and water supply to power utility Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) would be discontinued if the situation does not improve sometime soon.
Sinha, during the day, claimed that people of the state’s coal belt have been dealing with power and water crises over the last three months, with the local administration, departments concerned doing little to address their woes.
The saffron party MLA said he was left with no option but to hold a dharna to draw the attention of the stakeholders.
He threatened to intensify the agitation if the state government failed to find a solution.
“People are facing 15 to 16 hours of power cuts daily. Why should consumers have to put up with load shedding, having cleared their bills on time. The state government is indifferent to their plight,” the legislator alleged.
DVC has resorted to power disruptions in seven districts — Dhanbad, Giridih, Bokaro, Koderma, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh and Chatra — citing pending dues as reason.
Sinha claimed that the Hemant Soren government has also reduced supply of water to the coal city.
“Dhanbad was earlier being supplied 65 MLD (million litre per day) from Maithon water project to cater to the requirement of 11 lakh coal city citizens. The volume has now been reduced to 40 MLD,” he stated.
Among others, BJP legislative party leader and former chief minister Babu Lal Marandi, three-time Dhanbad MP PN Singh and other MLAs of district are also set to join Sinha’s sit-in.
Responding to the BJP MLA’s allegations, the ruling JMM’s district president, Ramesh Tudu, said power crisis was a major issue during the saffron party’s tenure in the state, and sought to know why was no initiative taken to solve the problem back then.
Describing the sit-in as “political drama”, he said the Hemant Soren-led government was looking into the matter and the crisis will be dealt with soon.
As per an agreement with the state government, DVC has to supply 600 MW power daily in the seven districts of Jharkhand, but it has resorted to power cuts over non-payment of dues.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren has recently alleged that the Centre was meting out a “step-motherly treatment” to Jharkhand, with Coal India not paying the state the “huge money” it owes while funds get auto-debited from the RBI account for the Damodar Valley Corporation.
At a meeting with NITI Aayog officials in Ranchi, Soren had urged them to resolve issues pertaining to DVC. PTI CORR NAM RMS RMS
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