Protest demonstrations were held in Sri-nagar and Kupwara areas of Indian illegally occu-pied Jammu and Kashmir against the total negli-gence of the authorities towards the sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
of Srinagar downtown came out of their houses and staged the protest demonstration over the Modi government’s new tactic of fleecing them through installation of smart power meters. The protesters, mostly women, gathered at Safa Kadal road in Norpora Ganderpora area of the locality and chanted slogans against the occupation authorities.
“Government is pushing us against the wall by installing smart meters without considering our economic condition,” they said.
“We are already paying hefty bills, which is not affordable for us. How are we supposed to pay more bills generated by these smart meters? We are families of labourers who earn from hand to mouth, and these moves are totally unacceptable,” said the protesting women.
The protesters said that they are from a poor locality and have patients at home. They said they are unable to pay medical bills and expenses for food due to their weak economic conditions. “We are already suffering from inflation and other economic issues. Most of our youth are jobless, and amid the inflation, our meagre earnings have made us suffer. Now this smart meter issue is worsening our situation,’ they added. The protests blocked Safa Kadal road, which led to disruption in vehicular movement. Meanwhile, scores of residents of Shangergund area of Sopore also staged a protest over water scarcity in their locality. While blaming the authoriteis for failure in providing with them adequate drinking water for the past many weeks, the residents complained of facing acute shortage of drinking water.
The protesters blocked Sopore – Kupwara highway, resulting in the halting of traffic movement. According to residents they are being forced to drink contaminated water from nearby streams and springs which is not good for their health.—KMS
