Pulwama, Apr 04: A group of women on Tuesday hit the streets in the Malikpora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district to protest against the installation of smart meters in their area.
The protesting women blocked the Srinagar-Pulwama highway for some time which caused traffic jams in the town.
The protesters said they belong to the poor sections of society and won’t be able to pay “huge bills” after the installation of smart meters.
“We live from hand to mouth and cannot afford smart meters,” a woman said. “We are already struggling to make our ends meet amid the rising inflation.”
The women urged the government to discontinue the installation of smart meters.
The protesters were pacified by a police party and the traffic was decongested.
A couple of days ago, women from another locality of Pulwama staged a similar protest against the installation of smart meters in their area.
Superintendent Engineer Power Development Department for Pulwama said that smart meters are consumer-friendly which will enable users to monitor readings of electricity consumption from a distance and they can be controlled remotely.
“The new meters are installed in the already metered areas,” he said, adding that smart meters will remove human interference and bills will be generated as per the readings of the meters as was the practice with the old meters.
