Perumbavoor: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) pulled the fuse at a dialysis centre here on Thursday over electricity bill arrears.
Forty patients were undergoing free dialysis at the centre attached to the Koinonia Mission Hospital under the Jacobite Syrian Church in Allapra, when the plugs were pulled. After two hours of widespread protests, officials restored the electricity connection.

The KSEB lineman pulled the fuse at the dialysis centre around 8.30 am on Thursday. The generator at the centre was out of order. The inverter system was able to run the machines only for a short period of time, hospital sources said.

Although the hospital authorities, relatives of the patients, and Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly contacted the Vengola KSEB office, the office was of the view that they could not restore electricity without paying the bill amount.

Later, under the leadership of Panchayat President Shihab Pallikal and Ward Member PP Eldhose, local residents picketed the Vengola KSEB office. Seeing that the incident would worsen, the overseer arrived at 11am and restored the electricity connection.

The electricity bill at the centre was around Rs 30,000. An employee from the hospital had visited electricity office with a check for the bill amount on May 1, but he was sent back as it was a holiday. But the lineman pulled the fuse before the KSEB office opened the next day.