{"id":195447,"date":"2026-02-21T19:34:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=195447"},"modified":"2026-02-21T19:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:47:13","slug":"smart-meter-installation-sparks-womens-protest-in-budgam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/02\/21\/smart-meter-installation-sparks-womens-protest-in-budgam.html","title":{"rendered":"Smart meter installation sparks women\u2019s protest in Budgam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-195448\" src=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/3-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" height=\"180\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Srinagar: A large number of women held a protest demonstration today against the installation of smart electricity meters in Waterwani village of Budgam district in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kashmir Media Service, witnesses said the demonstrators gathered in the locality and objected to the ongoing metering drive, saying that the new system could escalate monthly electricity charges and adversely affect low-income households.<\/p>\n<p>The protesting women sought immediate suspension of the installation process pending wider consultation and questioned the absence of prior awareness campaigns explaining the operational mechanism and billing structure of the smart meters.<\/p>\n<p>The inhabitants urged the Power Development Department to address apprehensions publicly before proceeding further.<\/p>\n<p>The participants maintained that any modification in essential utility services must factor in local economic conditions and appealed to the administration to review the rollout and warned of intensified protests if their concerns are not examined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Srinagar: A large number of women held a protest demonstration today against the installation of smart electricity meters in Waterwani village of Budgam district in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. According to Kashmir Media Service, witnesses said the demonstrators gathered in the locality and objected to the ongoing metering drive, saying that the new &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Smart meter installation sparks women\u2019s protest in Budgam &#062; Kashmir Media Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/02\/21\/smart-meter-installation-sparks-womens-protest-in-budgam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smart meter installation sparks women\u2019s protest in Budgam &#062; Kashmir Media Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Srinagar: A large number of women held a protest demonstration today against the installation of smart electricity meters in Waterwani village of Budgam district in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. 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