‘Agitating farmers illegally tapping electricity, damaging roads’: NHAI
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has accused the agitating farmers of illegally tapping electricity from its streetlight connection to run their gadgets and appliances, including washing machines, heaters and TVs, besides damaging the road at the Ghazipur border on the under-construction Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
The NHAI has urged the Uttar Pradesh government to get the road cleared in keeping with the terms and conditions of the State Support Agreement (SSA), which provides that barring reasons related to emergency, national security and law and order, no government agency or private individual will disrupt the highway project.
The NHAI charges come amid the announcement by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait that he would set up an air-conditioned office at the protest site, giving indications about the agitators readying for a long haul.
Tikait, who has been sitting on the UP-Delhi border with thousands of his supporters for more than two months now, is also a member of the State Advisory Committee (SAC) under the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC).
