Taking to the streets: Legislators ask HESCO to address outages

DC Fuad Ghaffar Soomro says administration compelled to deal with enraged citizens due to HESCO's performance

HYDERABAD: Following Tuesday’s protests against power outages, the district administration and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmakers asked the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) on Wednesday to address the problem immediately.

In a meeting at the deputy commissioner’s (DC) office, HESCO was told that not only did the recurrent outages in the summer outrage citizens, they also paralysed the water supply and drainage system.

“Due to HESCO’s performance, the administration is compelled to deal with enraged citizens,” observed DC Fuad Ghaffar Soomro.

Meanwhile, MQM-P MPA Nadeem Siddiqui claimed unscheduled blackouts had become rampant in Latifabad and City talukas, creating water shortages and drainage problems.

Party lawmaker Rashid Khilji, too, pointed to the company’s track record of disconnecting power for hours or even days after rain. Hyderabad Development Authority director-general Ghulam Muhammad Qaimkhani added that power breakdowns put pressure on the water supply and drainage systems, exposing them to damage which may cost hundreds of millions of rupees.

On Tuesday, protests erupted against HESCO in some localities of Hyderabad, blocking traffic for hours.

Joined by local Pakistan Peoples Party leaders, the traders and residents of Liaquat Colony, Firdous Colony, Tando Wali Muhammad and other adjoining areas staged a demonstration at Sakhi Pir Chowk, burning tyres and wheat.

They complained that instead of decreasing loadshedding amid the heat, HESCO had intensified outages, with faults in the system taking days to repair. They later dispersed when the police called HESCO officials, who assured the protesters their grievances would be addressed.

Meanwhile, Katcha Qila’s residents, led by a MQM-P councillor, blocked the Cantonment graveyard road in protest, leaving vehicles queued up on either side of the road. The police again facilitated negotiations, with HESCO officials assuring protesters their complaint would be resolved by the night. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2020.