Power eludes 4 Khagrachhari villages for about a week
Residents of four villages under Khagrachhari Sadar upazila block Khagrachhari-Bhuiyachhari Road at Golabari point in the district town yesterday.Photo: STAR
Agitated people of four villages in Sadar upazila yesterday blocked Khagrachhari-Bhuiyachhari road demanding power supply. Villagers said power supply remained suspended for the last consecutive six days to Golabari, Kaladaba, Kotbil and Bottali. The protesters blocked the road at Golabari of the district town from 09:30am to 12:00pm, causing suspension of all kinds of vehicular movement on the road. They withdrew the roadblock after the local Power Development Board (PDB) officials and municipality councilor pledged to solve the problem within the next seven days. The villagers told this correspondent that they were without power supply since June 7. "We went to the local PDB officials several times but to no effect. Moreover, they demanded Tk 20,000 to repair the transformer of the area", a villager alleged. Several others said that the consecutive power failure had made the life of local people measurable as their daily work were badly hampered. Inhabitants of Bottali village Memaching Marma and Cimnapru Marma alleged that all their foodstuffs preserved in the fridges got rotten due to long time power failure. The on-going hot spell added to the situation, affecting farmers and students of the area severely, said Aungshi Marma of Golabari village. Aungpru Marma and Chimpra Marma of Kaladaba village alleged that the PDB officials do not care about the consumers of the villages. They also protested the disparity between village and town. The villagers urged the authorities concerned to meet their demands immediately. They also threatened that they would launch agitation if their demand was not fulfilled within next seven days. Contacted, Executive Engineer of Khagrachhari PDB Atikkram Chakma said, power supply was hampered in the area after the transformer was hit by lightening on June 7. "We have sent the transformer for repair and trying our best to reinstall it as soon as possible”, he said, refuting the allegation of demanding money from the villagers.
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