Sindri residents protest in Dhanbad on Thursday. Picture by Gautam Dey

More than 1,000 villagers of Dhanbad’s Sindri and Baliapur staged a dharna and locked up the regional office of Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) for more than three hours in support of their nine-point charter of demands.

The protesters are seeking power connection in their villages, which they said should also be brought under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme. Talks between the agitators, led by district secretary of CPI(ML) Mahendra Kumar, and SDO of Sindri’s regional office of JSEB B.K. Singh was held at the latter’s chamber. Singh promised to look into their demands.

Sudhir Mahto of Baliapur’s Parasbania village said the residents of more than a dozen hamlets, including Chatabad, Parasbania, Simatand, Aurbhitha, Chitahi, Sambalpur, Kusberia, Khairband, Adivasi Tola and Bedia Tola, took part in the demonstrations. “We have been demanding that our villages be covered under the Centre’s Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme ever since we were brought under the district board from the notified area committee a couple of years ago,” said Mahto.

The protesters also sought a protection cover for the 11,000-volt high tension wire that passes close by a pond through Parasbania.

According to Mahto, SDO Singh agreed to meet most of their demands. He said they would start rural electrification work at Parasbania next month. The SDO also said a junior engineer would look into the need for protection cover from the high tension wire and action taken on the basis of his report.

A camp to provide electricity connection to BPL card-holders will be held at our village on October 5. Similar camps will be organised at Bedia Tola, Adivasi Tola and Khairband Tola,” he added.

Mahto further said they had issued a one-month deadline to the officials at the meeting and that they would be compelled to launch a massive agitation if their demands were not met by that time.