Plunged into darkness: Power outages irk residents of Bannu

Locals threaten to protest if electricity is not restored

BANNU: Frequent power outages in Bannu have irked residents. Many of them have criticised Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and the provincial government for failing to provide electricity.

A large number of local government representatives, including Abid Khan, the nazim of City-II, and general councillor Naeem Bacha, raised their concerns about the challenges faced by locals. They lashed out at the relevant authorities over prolonged load-shedding over Eidul Azha.

According to the representatives, the power crisis has persisted and their houses have been plunged into darkness for several hours every day. “The power crisis has resulted in an acute water shortage,” one of the representatives said.

They said Wapda officials have turned a blind eye to their grievances. “They are least concerned about resolving the crisis,” another LG representative said.

LG representatives and locals have threatened to hold a large protest if power supply is not restored in Bannu and their grievances are not addressed.

Rewind

In August, State Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government has failed to cooperate with the federal government to resolve the power crisis in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

However, Adviser to CM on Information and Public Relations Mushtaq Ghani rubbished the allegations levelled by the state minister. Ghani said the state minister was making a false claim by saying the K-P government was not cooperating with the federal government to resolve power crisis. He added the federal government was stealing between 8,000 and 10,000 megawatts of electricity from the province on a daily basis.

According to the adviser, the federal government should provide their due share of power to the province so that the power crisis could be redressed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2016.