Women blow fuse over outages,offer bangles to power officials
MEERUT, July 31 -- Public outrage over relentless power cuts spilled on to streets in Meerut as a group of locals, mostly women, marched to the Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam (PVVNL) office in Ganganagar area and staged a dramatic protest, offering bangles to the officials in a gesture intended to shame them for perceived inaction.
A video of the incident went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The Tuesday agitation came after weeks of long and unannounced power outages, especially in areas considered strongholds of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Locals alleged that despite repeated complaints, there has been no serious intervention from authorities.
In the video from the Indira Chowk electricity substation, women are purported seen handing over a set of bangles to a junior engineer (JE) Mahesh Kumar, saying: "Wear these bangles, get a skirt stitched." The act, laden with cultural symbolism, was meant to shame officials into action, accusing them of apathy and inaction during a time when residents are enduring unbearable heat and sleepless nights.
The protesters also took pot shots at local BJP MP Arun Govil. "The MP only shows up around election time. He's like a film star now - rarely seen and totally disconnected from ground realities," said one of the protesters, Preeti Tyagi.
According to protestors, several areas in Meerut including Surajkund Road, Patel Nagar and Mohanpuri, were without electricity for hours on Wednesday due to a major fault in the 33 KV line feeding Ganganagar. The situation left large parts of the city in darkness amid sweltering humidity, affecting children, elderly, and patients alike.
Residents also raised slogans against executive engineer Vipin Kumar, blaming him for failing to act on long-standing complaints and not ensuring power supply despite repeated faults in the distribution line. PVVNL managing director Isha Duhan also came under fire with residents accusing her of not being accessible to the public.
Executive engineer Vipin Kumar said, "After transfer, it was my first day of work at the sub-station. We listened to the public grievances and necessary steps are being taken to ensure adequate power supply."...
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