Budgam, Mar 22: The residents of Alamdar Colony Chararisharief in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Tuesday staged a protest and blocked Chararisharief-Srinagar road against the installation of smart meters by the Power Development Department (PDD).

The protestors demanded that the installation of smart meters should be stopped and those installed should be removed.

Protesters warned that if the government didn’t reverse its decision, every resident of the area would hit the streets to protest against the department.

“Everyone in our locality is a labor, we have been suffering for the past three years and now they (PDD) want us to suffer further by installing these meters,” the residents said and added that they can’t afford to pay hefty power bills.

The residents appealed higher authorities to look into their grievances as they are already facing hardships. kno