Normal life in Dhenkanal town came to a complete standstill on Monday as a 12-hour bandh enforced from 6 AM to 6 PM by the Bidyut Upabhokta Kriyanusthan Committee halted all commercial, educational, and administrative activities in response to alleged coercive practices by Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) regarding smart meter installation and penalty imposition.

All business establishments, schools, colleges, government offices, banks, and private institutions remained closed, while transport services were suspended across the district; the bandh received unanimous backing from the Dhenkanal Bar Association, merchants’ associations, truck and bus owners’ unions, and major political parties across the spectrum, reflecting widespread public resentment against TPCODL’s policies.

Protesters blocked National Highway 55 for more than two hours, leading to long traffic jams, and briefly disrupted railway movement through demonstrations on tracks; a large rally marched through the main thoroughfares of Dhenkanal town raising slogans against the forced installation of prepaid smart meters and the imposition of fines ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of rupees, often on low-consumption households.

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Gopal Patra, president of the Dhenkanal Bar Association, described the shutdown as an overwhelming success and warned that the agitation would be intensified if TPCODL failed to immediately cease smart meter installations, withdraw all disputed penalty bills, and revert to conventional metering systems, stating that the present practices amounted to systematic exploitation of electricity consumers.

Dhenkanal Superintendent of Police Abhinav Sonkar confirmed that the bandh concluded peacefully with no untoward incidents reported; seven platoons of police personnel were deployed purely as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, while the district administration refrained from any intervention, acknowledging the depth of public opposition to TPCODL’s ongoing drive.

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