Kishanganj bandh against persistent power crisis

Kishanganj, Aug 12 (UNI) Refusing to buy the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) engineers' assurances, power consumers of Kishanganj stuck to their stand and observed total 'bandh' here today.

The consumers were demanding, among other things, expeditious completion of a power grid station which alone could rid them of the persistent power problem.

Today's bandh is part of a phase-wise prolonged agitation. The bandh call was given by Kishanganj Bar Association and co-ordination committee comprising eminent people from different walks of life.

A spokesman of Bar Association, Soren Saha claimed, ''Response was spontaneous and simply unprecedented. Next saturday National Highway No 31 will be blocked if work on construction of grid station is not accelerated.

Meanwhile, a co-ordination committee member decried both the political rivals, Union Minister of State and RJD leader Taslimuddin and former BJP minister Shahnawaz Hussain for trying to hog the credit for a reprieve in the deeping power crisis since Friday by linking Kishanganj to Forbesganj grid which has ensured certain supply position.

Mr Saha said, ''If these political stalwarts like Taslimuddin and Shahnawaz Hussain had only been sincere, Kishanganj consumers would not have gone through the traumatic experience in the blistering summer months. It was their tongue-in-cheek approach that actually drove the people to embark upon the agitational path''.

UNI XC RS SP/SRC1923