Out of patience: Highway blocked to protest load shedding

Protesters complain about water shortages.

FAISALABAD:

Hundreds of people on Saturday staged a protest demonstration against unannounced load shedding in Khurarianwala.

Holding clubs, rods and hockey sticks, they marched on several city roads before they surrounded the Khurarianwala grid station.

The protesters staged a sit-in and burnt tyres on Faisalabad-Sheikhupura Road suspending traffic for hours. They also chanted slogans against load shedding.

Nauman Bashir, one of the protesters, told reporters there was no electricity in the area for 20 hours.

“We are facing numerous problems.”

Ghulam Hussain, another protester, said prolong power cuts had resulted in water shortages. “We are unable to pump water. How can we cook food and bathe without water?”

Ishaq Ali, a farmer, said he was unable to provide water to his cattle. “It is getting hard for us to meet water needs of the livestock,” he said.

The protest went on for three hours.

No official from the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) or the city government visited them.

A Fesco spokesman said power supply had been affected due to technical faults at the grid station.

“Our engineers are working… the supply will be restored as soon as they have removed the glitches,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2014.