Power[less]: Chattar Plain residents refuse to pay electricity bills
Say will protest till grid staff is transferred, outages end
PHOTO: REUTERS
MANSEHRA:
Hundreds of residents of Chattar Plain and surrounding villages have said they will not pay their electricity bills unless their demands were met. The villagers took out a procession till Chattar Plain Press Club on Friday, protesting against Pesco.
Speaking to participants, PTI leader and Anjuman Tajran Chattar Bazaar President Haji Liaqat Khan said unscheduled power outages made life miserable for people. He said the business community and domestic consumers were suffering tremendously as they were without electricity for 10 hours daily.
Grievances
Liaqat said, “We anxiously wait for electricity which remains disconnected for over 10 hours on a daily basis.” He said there were two types of load-shedding going on for the last several months – one is imposed by the federal government and the second by the staff of Chattar Plain grid station. Liaqat said the grid staff was imposing unscheduled outages.
Liaqat added over-billing and irregular meter reading was another problem locals were facing. He accused meter reading staff of not visiting areas and writing down incorrect readings.
Jamshed Khan, a villager, said people told the Hazara division commissioner, Mansehra deputy commissioner and Pesco authorities about the prolonged power outages and asked them to take action but to no avail. He said during their last protest in December 2015, the commissioner had assured the employees at the grid station who had been around for a long time, that they would be posted to other areas but that promise was also not fulfilled.
Jamshed also said their demands were genuine and they have been paying their bills regularly. “We are Pakistanis and pay our taxes but I do not know why Pesco authorities were punishing them for their loyalty,” he added.
Warning bells
The villagers have refused to pay their bills unless load-shedding was brought to a complete end and Chattar Plain grid station staff, including employees identified as Sakhawat, Abdul Khanan and Manzoor, is transferred immediately.
Thursday was the last date to pay bills. The villagers dumped their unpaid electricity bills in the courtyard of the press club and vowed to continue doing so until their demands were met.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2016.
Hundreds of residents of Chattar Plain and surrounding villages have said they will not pay their electricity bills unless their demands were met. The villagers took out a procession till Chattar Plain Press Club on Friday, protesting against Pesco.
Speaking to participants, PTI leader and Anjuman Tajran Chattar Bazaar President Haji Liaqat Khan said unscheduled power outages made life miserable for people. He said the business community and domestic consumers were suffering tremendously as they were without electricity for 10 hours daily.
Grievances
Liaqat said, “We anxiously wait for electricity which remains disconnected for over 10 hours on a daily basis.” He said there were two types of load-shedding going on for the last several months – one is imposed by the federal government and the second by the staff of Chattar Plain grid station. Liaqat said the grid staff was imposing unscheduled outages.
Liaqat added over-billing and irregular meter reading was another problem locals were facing. He accused meter reading staff of not visiting areas and writing down incorrect readings.
Jamshed Khan, a villager, said people told the Hazara division commissioner, Mansehra deputy commissioner and Pesco authorities about the prolonged power outages and asked them to take action but to no avail. He said during their last protest in December 2015, the commissioner had assured the employees at the grid station who had been around for a long time, that they would be posted to other areas but that promise was also not fulfilled.
Jamshed also said their demands were genuine and they have been paying their bills regularly. “We are Pakistanis and pay our taxes but I do not know why Pesco authorities were punishing them for their loyalty,” he added.
Warning bells
The villagers have refused to pay their bills unless load-shedding was brought to a complete end and Chattar Plain grid station staff, including employees identified as Sakhawat, Abdul Khanan and Manzoor, is transferred immediately.
Thursday was the last date to pay bills. The villagers dumped their unpaid electricity bills in the courtyard of the press club and vowed to continue doing so until their demands were met.
Jamshed said people will wait for the next few days and then launch a protest movement: “Justice or death.” He added the responsibility of the consequences of the movement will lie with Pesco and the local administration.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2016.