Grid station attack: Prime time for election campaign

Candidate for PK-11, Haji Sifatullah provided heavy-duty diesel generator installed on pickup truck to run tube wells.

PESHAWAR:

The Sheikh Muhammadi grid station attack on April 1 has given an opportune moment for election candidates to prove their worth.

Following the attack, electricity had been cut to Sheikh Muhammadi, Suliman Khel, Sheikhan, Mushtarzai, Masho Gagar, Masho Khel and Garhi Mali Khel. Candidate for PK-11, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Haji Sifatullah, a resident of Masho Gagar himself, then came to the rescue of the affected villagers and provided a heavy-duty diesel generator installed on a pickup truck to run tube wells for several hours a day.

“Haji Sifatullah sent us a generator and provided 400 litres of diesel so we could run the tube wells,” said an elder of Sheikhan village, who did not wish to be named. He added the candidate has provided much-needed support to the villagers who had been without clean drinking water for many days.

Sifatullah has decided to send the generator to each village on separate days and people have been requested to store water and avoid wastages.



While many appreciate his efforts, others believe it’s only a tactic to lure voters.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Haji Noor Rehman, a resident of Masho Gagar and a member of the Awami National Party criticised the move saying these areas have been hit by militancy, floods and other problems in the past yet no one bothered to come to the aid of residents. “Because of the election campaign every candidate is now trying to solve the villagers’ problems using their own finances,” he said.

Sifatullah, however, was quick to explain his intentions. “The Peshawar Electric Supply Company had not restored electricity in the area since the attack on the grid station,” he said, adding Masho Gagar, Mera Masho Gagar, Shaheed Garhi, Balarzai, Mera Balarzai, Masho Khel, Masho Pekay, Garhi Mali Khel, Shahb Khel, Suliman Khel, Faqirabad, Sheikhan, Mushatarzai, Batatal and Kaga Wala villages had been without power for the past seven days.

“The main feeders at Badhaber, new Badhaber, Masho Gagar, Hassan Khel and Zangali have not been operating since the attack,” he explained, adding this had forced him to take action.

“It is the responsibility of the government to restore electricity to these villages as soon as possible,” he stated.

While candidates from all major parties are contesting elections from the area, the PML-N’s Sifatullah is the only who has taken such a step.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2013.