Farmers in Andhra Pradesh have decided to step up their protest against smart meters as the YSR Congress Party government is determined to install the meters on over 18 lakh farm pump sets across the State, said Samyukta Kisan Morcha Prakasam district convenor Ch. Ranga Rao.
He said the installation of the meters would turn out to be a ‘‘hangman’s noose’‘ for farmers in rain-fed areas and a ‘‘political waterloo’‘ for the ruling YSRCP. Farmers in Rapthadu and Somendapalli mandals in Anantapur district had taken the lead in removing the smart meters fixed by officials, he said, after felicitating farmers’ leaders M. Girish, R. Chandrasekhar, C. Nagaraju, B. Nagamuthyalu, Raja Rami Reddy, V. Kiran, C. Mallikarjun and A. Kattamaiah from the drought-prone district.
