Farmers oppose meters on tubewells, warn of stir
After exorbitant bills, many in western UP have removed meters and dumped them at discom offices; BKU to hold panchayat in Meerut on June 27 to support farmers
MEERUT : Farmers in western Uttar Pradesh are up in arms over the state government’s order for installation of electricity meters on their tubewells. After getting exorbitant bills, farmers in many villages have pulled out meters from their tubewells and dumped them at local offices of the Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (PVVNL). More of them could follow suit, stated farmer leaders.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), led by Tikait brothers, has declared to hold a panchayat at the discom office in Meerut on June 27 to support the farmers’ cause.
In the past few days, over 400 meters have been removed from tubewells by farmers in Umarpur village of Budhana tehsil of Muzaffarnagar, Tuglakpur and Kanhera villages in Purkazi area of the district and Elam and Unn villages of the Shamli district.
Angry farmers of Tuglakpur and Kanhera villages also held a meeting at the residence of BKU’s tehsil president Pratap Singh in Purkazi recently to discuss the issue. All of them complained about excess billing after installation of meters and unanimously decided to remove them.
They dumped the meters at the local offices of the PVVNL and warned authorities that any attempt to install meters without their consent would lead to a stir, said farmer leaders.
Last Sunday, farmers of Umarpur village removed 61 meters from their tubewells and dumped them at the office of the electricity department in Khanpur village.
Former pradhan of the village, Athar Husain, claimed that farmers received electricity bills of ₹ 5,000 to 7,000 after the installation of meters in comparison to their previous bills of ₹1,500 to 1,700 a month.
He said the farmers were left with no option but to remove meters when officials didn’t pay heed to their requests for correction of bills.
“The farmers have decided not to allow the department to install meters now,” he said.
In a similar incident, farmers of over 50 villages expressed anger against the power discom at Bhola ki Jhaal in Meerut on Tuesday and warned officials against installation of meters on their tubewells.
During a panchayat held at Kakda village in Muzaffarnagar, BKU president Naresh Tikait and his brother Rakesh Tikait raised questions over the state government’s intent.
“Ahead of the UP assembly elections, the BJP had promised free electricity for irrigation in its Sankalp Patra, announced 50% rebate in electricity bills for private tubewells of farmers and is now installing meters at tubewells. It shows that the government itself was confused over making a policy for providing electricity to farmers for irrigation,” they said.
He said the BKU will now oppose installation of meters on tubewells.
The outfit also announced to hold a panchayat at Meerut’s
PVVNL office on June 27 where farmers from 14 districts of western UP will assemble. The agitation of farmers over the issue is likely to intensify after the panchayat.
Stating that farmers couldn’t afford to pay high electricity bills, BKU president in Muzaffarnagar Yogesh Sharma said: “The rate of diesel is already high and now high electricity bills, instead of flat charges, will ruin farmers,” he said.
He said the region has fertile land and tubewells are one of the major sources of irrigation due to availability of underground water.
Questioning the “dual parameters of the BJP” over the issue, BKU divisional spokesperson Dinesh Tyagi said: “Electricity for irrigation is free in Punjab, Telangana and many other states while power for irrigation comes at nominal rates in Haryana and Uttarakhand. Why is the BJP government in UP not providing similar relief to farmers despite their promise for free electricity for irrigation in their Sankalp Patra.”
In UP, the current power tariff for tubewells is ₹170 per HP per month and farmers pay half of it following the state government’s decision of 50% rebate before the Assembly election. Tubewell motors generally have a capacity of 10 to 15 HP, therefore bills of farmers vary between ₹1,700 and 2,000 per month. And after 50% rebate, they pay ₹800 to 1,000.
However, farmers fear that after installation of meters their bills would go up manifold and this would affect their finances, stated farmer leaders.
“The fears of farmers are baseless. Meters are being installed at tubewells as per the guidelines of the electricity regulatory board. The process of meter installation began five months ago so that the power connections are metered,” said Rajiv Kumar, chief engineer (commercial), PVVNL.
Kumar said 14 districts of western UP are under the jurisdiction of the PVVNL.
“These districts have 4.70 lakh private tubewell connections but meters are installed at 20% of the tubewells,” he added.
Kumar said officials had taken cognisance of incidents where meters were removed and discussions were on to initiate action against those involved in it. “No final decision has been taken yet,” he said.
On the other hand, farmers contested the plea of officials that meters were only for “energy audit”.
“They will first install meters and after some time say that we need to pay bills as per readings,” said farmer leaders.