People of Makran living on 9 hours a day electricity

Three weeks have passed Turbat, Gwadar, Panjgur are still in darkness

QUETTA: Three weeks have passed, still three districts of the Makran division are facing 15 hours of load-shedding a day. People of Turbat, Gwadar and Panjgur are sweltering in the heat of summer.

The National Party held a shutter-down strike on July 13. The Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) officials gave assurances to the residents of the areas. Iranian authorities assured resolving technical fault developed at their grid station, which supplies electricity to these three districts. But still the areas are getting hardly nine hours of electricity a day.



However, Kech deputy commissioner and Qesco officials reiterated that the technical fault would be fixed in a couple of days.

The residents of the areas cursed the provincial government, especially Qesco, over their negligence in resolving this grave issue.
It is the responsibility of Qesco to address the electricity-related concerns of the people. Let alone the three districts, when electricity goes in Quetta after 11pm, Qesco officials do not tend to the complaints.



On Sunday, people of Quetta complained to The Express Tribune about the laziness of the Qesco officials. They said electricity went at 10pm on Saturday night and came at 8am on Sunday morning. “We tried calling the Qesco office, but no one answered. They [Qesco officials] come in the day time.”

They said that “this happens all the time”.

It is hard to fathom that many people of Balochistan, a province famous for its sardars and nawabzadas, are living in darkness.