Protests erupt against inflated bills

IESCO seeks police reinforcement to protect installations

RAWALPINDI:

Almost vicious protests erupted on Tuesday across Rawalpindi and other regions against the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) for issuing inflated electricity bills for the second consecutive month.

Scores of people including women and children took to the streets and roads flashing electricity bills and blocked arteries, main roads and highways for several hours. As a result of the protests, intra-city and inter-city traffic remained choked for several hours. Travellers, patient-carrying ambulances, students and motorists remained stranded for hours in traffic in the scorching heat.

The protesters also besieged the IESCO office at Murir Chowk and raised slogans against the authorities concerned and the government.

In view of possible vandalism, IESCO officials asked the City Police Officer Rawalpindi to deploy additional personnel to tighten the security of installations. Due to the protests, traffic came to a standstill in various areas of Rawalpindi including GT Road, Murree Road, Liaquat Road, Gawalmandi Chowk, Milad Chowk and Dhok Rata.

Motorists and commuters had to spend several hours in vehicles under the blazing sun. The protesters called the electricity bills cruel and brutal and demanded of the federal government to withdraw taxes from the bills immediately.

They said that the IESCO has again sent inflated bills for the month of August after fleecing consumers of millions of rupees for electricity they did not consume in the month of July.

They said that the extraordinary increase in electricity bills in the months of July and August has financially broken their backbone, leaving them in the lurch to manage their monthly budgets.

The largest protest took place near Rawat T Chowk, where a large number of residents of Rawat, Kalara Syedan, Sehala, Kahuta and Chowkpanduri converged and blocked GT Road for four hours.

The protest led to long queues of passenger buses, goods transport vehicles and cars on GT Road, as thousands of passengers and travellers remained stuck in the traffic.

The second major protest rally was held outside the IESCO headquarters at Marir Chowk, where thousands of men, women and children shouted slogans against IESCO high-ups and the government. The protestors demanded that the inflated electricity bills should be withdrawn. Residents of Dhok Rata Union Council-2 took out a protest rally from Murree Road to Liaquat Bagh Chowk. A large number of domestic consumers participated in the rally. The protesters were holding placards with slogans written on them.

Munshi Khan, a resident of Dhok Rata, said that he lives in a two-room house with only two fans and he earns Rs15,000 per month but the IESCO has sent him a bill of Rs36,000. He said that even after selling everything including his children's clothes, he could not pay the bill. He said that the government should not force people to commit suicide and withdraw brutal taxes immediately.

Sajida Bibi, a domestic worker who participated in the demonstration, said that her husband has died, she works as a maid to support her three children and earns only Rs12,000 per month but the IESCO has sent her an electricity bill of Rs8,000 for the month of August. She questioned whether she would bear household expenses or pay the inflated bill. “This government has snatched from the poor people the right of living,” she said holding back her tears.

On the other hand, looking at the protest outside the IESCO headquarters, officials have written a letter to the CPO Rawalpindi seeking reinforcement to guard the main installation.

Meanwhile, scores of people in Hazro’s Chacch villages protested against the IESCO for issuing inflated electricity bills.

The protesters marched from Farooq Azam Chowk Hazro to the WAPDA office on Khagwani Road. The demonstrators recorded their protest in front of the WAPDA office flashing electricity bills in their hands. The recent increase in the electricity bills by the IESCO has sparked a series of protests all over the region including in Attock.

The people of the Chhach area of Hazro also took to the streets calling out the government. They said that on the one hand, the prices of food and other essential commodities have broken their back, on the other hand, excessive taxes in the name of fuel price adjustment have been added to the electricity bills, costing consumers using 200 units up to Rs8,000 for July.

They said that the life of the common man and daily wager has become miserable. The protesters lamented that despite public protest over the cruel increase in the electricity bills, the government seemed to be unmoved by their plight.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2022.