Protests continue over high power bills

Enraged citizens torch electricity bills at Sukho Mor, Jamia Masjid Road

RAWALPINDI:

Hundreds of electricity bills were set ablaze by a large number of enraged protesters at the Sukho Mor and the Jamia Masjid Road areas of the garrison city as part of the ongoing protests against the exorbitant utility charges across the country.

The protesters, which included a large number of women and children, shouted slogans against the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) and the federal government.

The protests against the rising utility charges have been going on in Rawalpindi and other cities for a week as a wave of stagflation has engulfed the country in the wake of the worsening economic crisis.

On Wednesday, the first protest demonstration was staged at Sukho Mor, where a large number of protesters carried placards and inflated electricity bills in their hands.

They chanted slogans and burnt hundreds of bills while demanding the federal government to immediately withdraw the increase in electricity bills.

Subsequently, another demonstration took place at the Jamia Masjid Road in which a large number of women and children participated.

The protestors also marched to Bani Chowk and chanted slogans against the IESCO officials.

On Tuesday, traders of the garrison city shut their outlets and staged a protest demonstration on Rashid Minhas Road against the rising utility charges on the call of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). The two-hour-long demonstration led to traffic jams on Murree Road and other highways as the traders demanded an immediate withdrawal of the electricity bill hike.

Waves of violent protests have swept the nation with citizens vehemently rejecting the exorbitant prices of electricity. Citizens, traders and business communities across the nation declared they were no longer willing to shoulder the weight of exorbitant electricity costs, outrightly refusing to pay the bills while resisting any actions to disconnect their electricity supply.

The government has so far failed to quell the mounting discontent among the masses over the skyrocketing electricity bills with the caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar directing the authorities concerned to devise concrete measures aimed at alleviating the burden on the public.

Traders announce protest

On the other hand, traders have announced a shutter-down strike in Murree against the inflation, rising electricity costs and the ongoing operation against the ‘illegal’ construction in the tourist resort.

According to details, leaders of the Anjuman-e-Tajran, Hotel Association, Transport Association and other business organisations announced a complete shutdown on Thursday. All small and big markets, including the Murree City, will be completely closed, they said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2023.