Blocked roads: Power outages spark protests in various districts

Locals say daily life is paralysed when there is no power for over 20 hours

SHABQADAR/ PESHAWAR: Prolonged power outages have sparked protests in various parts of the province, forcing locals to take to the streets and demand a reduction in load-shedding hours.

Taking to streets

Agitated over not having power for more than 20 hours on a daily basis, residents of Umarzai in Tangi tehsil of Charsadda blocked Charsadda-Tangi Road for five hours in protest on Monday.

Also present at the protest, local leaders of political parties, Asad Ali and Pir Akbar Khan, said outages aggravated the suffering of daily wagers and students. One of the protesters said they were paying their dues, but corruption in Peshawar Electric Supply Company has caused the hours of outages to increase. They kept the road blocked from 7am to 12 noon, but opened it when Charsadda Assistant Commissioner Noorwali and Tangi Circle Deputy Superintendent of Police Sajjad Hussain assured them the issue would be taken up with power officials.

On the other hand, a jirga has been called in Tangi for Tuesday (today) to discuss the issue, Pesco officials will also be called for the talk. In Shabqadar, people have switched from the government supply to using solar panels for power.

Suspending traffic 

In Peshawar, protesters kept the bustling Sonehri Masjid road blocked for several hours over prolonged outages. The protest was led by a Peshawar district council opposition member Saeed Zahir.

Over the unscheduled outages, PESCO Spokesperson Shaukat Afzal said there are line losses of 70% to 95%, hence the outages. As per the policy of Pesco, there would be no outages in areas where there are no line losses.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2016.