Farmers attack power staff, snatch cop’s baton in Hry

Hisar: Farmers of Kalirawan and Khasa villages in Haryana’s Hisar on Friday stopped the work of installation of poles by attacking the team working to lay a 33KV line between Adampur and Gorakhpur for the Fatehabad nuclear power plant. A farmer attacked an electrician identified as Ashish with a stick. When police caught hold of him, other farmers protested and snatched the baton from a cop, which led to a scuffle between the two sides. However, a meeting was later convened wherein it was decided that the poles would not be installed in the middle of fields, but on one side. The farmers have sought one day’s time to take everyone’s consent. They also demanded compensation, but the officials said there was no such provision.It may be mentioned here that the 33KV line is being laid from Adampur till Gorakhpur nuclear plant. On May 30 too, the farmers had stopped the work of installing poles, following which the team, along with duty magistrate Dalbir Rathi and police, reached the spot to complete the work. Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) executive engineer Sankalp Parihar said a 20km-long line is being laid from Adampur to Agroha. “Work on both the sides has been completed, but towers have yet to be installed,” he added. A farmer, Bhoop Singh, said the electricity distribution company started digging pits without taking consent from them.