Prolonged power cuts: Traders observe shutter-down strike

HYDERABAD: The power protests gripped Mirpurkhas district on Wednesday as the traders observed a shutter-down strike and staged demonstrations. They said that even the urban areas of the district faced 18-hour-long power cuts. The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) maintained that it was carrying out only eight hours of load shedding in urban and 12 hours in the rural areas. The Hesco spokesman, Sadiq Kubar, said that the company faced a shortage of 610 megawatts of electricity at its peak time. While addressing a protest rally, Sarafa Bazaar Association’s chief, Hanif Memon, warned that the traders would continue the strike if the duration of load shedding was not reduced.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2012.