MIRPUR (Kashmir English): Hundreds of people came out on the streets in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, on Friday against Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) for hefty electricity bills in Mirpur and Mangla P&I divisions.
The protestors expressed full confidence in the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee and announced their full support for its decisions to continue protesting against power bills.
During the demonstrations, the protesters said that Mangla IESCO is imposing an unjustified additional burden on its consumers, which they will not accept under any circumstances.
Addressing the protest, the protest organisers said that the unfair increase in electricity bills has made the life of the common man unbearable and they are being crushed by the storm of inflation.
They demanded that the bills of the residents of Mangla, situated in District Mirpur, should also be made according to the power tariff issued throughout Azad Kashmir.
Khawaja Mehran Advocate, a member of the core committee of the Awami Action Committee, who participated in the protest rally, gave the government a 15-day deadline and announced that “if the issues were not resolved, the people would be forced to take strict measures.”
He made it clear that if the demands were not met, the entry point of Mangla would be closed in protest, for which the entire responsibility would fall on the government. The officials of the Joint Action Committee said that they would go to any extent for the rights of the people and force the government to solve public problems.
The protesters demanded that the concerned department immediately withdraw the unlawful electricity bill of Mangla IESCO consumers and provide relief, otherwise the scope of the protest would be expanded.
