Haridwar: Frustrated by persistent power outages in his constituency, Congress MLA Virendra Jati took drastic action on Tuesday by climbing electricity poles and severing the power connections to the residences of three senior electricity department officials in Roorkee.
The MLA from Jhabreda in Haridwar district arrived at the officials' residences accompanied by supporters, carrying a ladder and cutting tools. His first stop was the official residence of Superintending Engineer Vivek Rajput at the Boat Club, where he personally climbed a pole to disconnect the supply. He then proceeded to the homes of Chief Engineer Anupam Singh and Executive Engineer Vinod Pandey, cutting their power connections as well.
Jati alleged that his constituency has been plagued by unannounced power cuts lasting five to eight hours daily, causing severe distress to residents and significant losses to local businesses. He claimed that despite raising the issue with the department for ten days, his complaints went unheeded. The officials were in a bad state after just one hour of a power cut, while the public suffered for hours every day without electricity, Jati stated.
The electricity department has filed a police complaint against the lawmaker at the Roorkee Civil Lines Police Station. The complaint alleges that Jati cut live power lines without a proper shutdown protocol, a dangerous act that could have resulted in a major accident. The department termed the incident a violation of safety rules and direct interference in government work.