The prepaid electricity recharge system in Teliamura, Tripura has been closed for three days. Troubled by the server failure, people demonstrated outside the electricity office and then blocked the National Highway. The administration tried to handle the situation.
Prepaid recharge system was stalled for three days
Agartala (Tripura) [भारत]July 7 (ANI): At a time when electricity is the only respite from the scorching heat, the prepaid electricity recharge system remained virtually halted for three consecutive days due to server or “link” failure. After several days of inconvenience and uncertainty, anger erupted among people in Teliamura, Tripura on Monday.
The protest by thousands of electricity consumers at the local electricity office soon turned into a major movement, which also included blocking the national highway. This created an atmosphere of great unrest in the city. Ultimately the sub-divisional administration and heavy police force had to intervene to control the situation. Allegations of lathicharge by the police further increased the tension.
The protest reached from the electricity office to the National Highway
From around 2:30 pm on Monday, hundreds of prepaid electricity consumers gathered outside the Teliamura electricity department office to get their meters recharged and the power supply restored. However, due to server outages, customers were repeatedly turned away without any resolution. According to the protesters, they were facing the same problem for the last three days, and despite repeated assurances from the authorities, no permanent solution was given.
As hours passed and there was no improvement, angry consumers started protesting inside the electricity office itself. The situation became increasingly tense and some officials reportedly left their offices for safety. Later the protesters gathered at the main gate of the department and strongly criticized the administration over this long-standing problem.
After this the movement reached the National Highway in front of Teliamura Police Station, where the protesters blocked the road, due to which the traffic came to a complete standstill. Long queues of trucks, buses, private vehicles and local transport formed on both sides of the highway, causing immense inconvenience to thousands of passengers. Even heavy rain could not stop the protesters, and they continued their sit-in despite the rain.
He demanded immediate restoration of prepaid recharge service and a permanent technical solution to prevent such failures in future.
Administration’s intervention and assurance of solution
As the situation worsened, sub-divisional magistrate Apoorva Krishna Chakraborty, electricity department DGM Nirmal Debnath, additional superintendent of police Justin Joseph, sub-divisional police officer Rohan Krishna, along with a large team of police personnel reached the spot. Several rounds of talks took place between the administration and the protesters, but no immediate solution could be reached.
Amid rising tensions, allegations emerged that police resorted to lathi charge in an attempt to disperse the crowd, further increasing public anger. Despite heavy rain, police deployment and repeated assurances from officials, the protesters refused to lift their blockade. The incident reflects widespread public discontent over prolonged disruption in electricity services and what many say is administrative failure.
Speaking to the media, DGM Nirmal Debnath said that after discussions with higher officials, the department has decided to provide “30 to 50 emergency power units to consumers whose power supply had already been cut or was likely to be cut in the next one or two days.” He clarified that these emergency units will be adjusted later after the system is restarted. Debnath further said that it may take another two to three days to restore the system. According to him, “The crisis arose after an alleged fire at the cloud server facility of the electricity department in Delhi on June 5-6, due to a technical glitch.”
It remains to be seen how quickly the administration follows through on its assurances, or whether prolonged “link failures” will continue to leave thousands of consumers struggling without reliable electricity services. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)