Power breakdown: Protesting residents block metro bus route

Residents of Ravi Road area stage protest demonstration at Bhati Chowk

LAHORE: Dozens of residents of Ravi Road area on Saturday staged a protest demonstration near Bhati Chowk against power failure.

The protesters blocked the Lahore Metro Bus track and adjoining roads. They complained of frequent tripping and low voltage.

Muhammad Ali, one of the protesters, said that they were paying exorbitantly high electricity bills. “Unscheduled loadshedding has increased. Loadshedding has also affected water supply to the area,” Ali said.

Jamil, another protester, said that their homes had no electricity for the past 48 hours. “LESCO officials have failed to fix the transformer of the area. We visited their office several times, but they have done nothing to restore electricity supply,” he said.

The Punjab Mass-Transit Authority (PMA) had to suspend bus operations from MAO College to Shahdara due to the protest.

Residents of Township, Allama Iqbal Town, Samanabad, Chauburji, China Scheme, Johar Town, Garden Town and Ferozepur also complained of loadshedding.

Riaz and Rehan Asghar, both Samanabad residents, said their electricity supply had bee suspended for the past six hours.

“We have registered various complains on phone and in person, but LESCO staff is not telling us what is wrong. We understand that the power supply is limited, but it does not mean that LESCO staff cannot improve its attitude towards customers and resolve their problems. In the humid weather, load-shedding has badly affected our routine life,” Asghar said.

Adnan, a Township resident, said that frequent power tripping and unscheduled load-shedding had become a routine. “Load-shedding starts at Fajr and continues throughout the day,” he said.

A LESCO spokesman said humid weather had increased electricity demand in Lahore. “The company is running its system on maximum capacity owing to high demand. We have ensured zero load-shedding during sehr and iftar. However, the electricity supply fails due to system constraints in some areas,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2016.