Police today resorted to baton charge to disperse the Shiv Sena workers who disrupted traffic on the Western Express Highway protesting hike in electricity charges by Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) in suburban Santacruz here.
Sena’s agitation against the tariff hike of REL turned violent after its workers pelted stone at REL’s headquarters on the Andheri-Kurla road and also tried to set a police vehicle on fire.
REL, which distributes power to around 2.6 million consumers in city’s western suburbs, has asked for an average tariff hike of 5 per cent across all the categories of consumers from power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).
According to Jitendra Janawade, a local Sena leader, the agitation was not just against the proposed tariff hike. Recently REL replaced old meters with the Chinese-made ones which has put additional burden on the consumers who have started receiving 30 per cent higher bills. “And once your bill increases, the company also asks for additional security deposit which is a double whammy for the common man,” he said.
Janawade, however, held the police responsible for the agitation turning violent, saying as the delegation of senior leaders was inside REL’s premises discussing the grievances of consumers, with senior company officials, police resorted to baton charge on the peaceful demonstrators. This angered the Shiv Sainiks and common people, who had joined the agitation, and some incident of stone pelting took place.
Sena leaders also raised the issue in the state Assembly and demanded immediate suspension of the police officials who ordered the baton charge.
Meanwhile, a senior REL official said “while we have proposed only an average 5 per cent hike, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), which is controlled by Sena and distributes power in the island city, has asked for a tariff hike of 52 per cent”. “It is ironical that activists of the same party are holding agitation against us,” he said.