The protesters, belonging to Fatowali village, chanted slogans against the government for what they said were its anti-people policies.
Kashif Zafar
BAHAWALPUR:
Dozens of farmers staged a protest demonstration against the
Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) for sending inflated power bills.
The protesters blocked Sama Satta Road and burned their
electricity bills during the demonstration.
The protesters, belonging to Fatowali village, chanted
slogans against the government for what they said were its anti-people
policies.
They said some of them had received power bills of more than
a hundred thousand rupees just for the electricity they used to run a tube-well
to irrigate their fields. Farmer Abdul Aleem said the bills were unjustified
considering power outages in the village had now increased to up to 20 hours.
He said he was considering abandoning agriculture and migrating to the city to
take up manual labour. Haji Munir said he was also considering selling his land
because of the increased cost of farming. The protesters stayed at the road for
up to two hours, blocking traffic and causing inconvenience to them. The
protesters referred to Indian policies towards their agriculture sector and
said that the government should adopt similar pro-farmer policies.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2012.
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