Lights out: People take to the streets, demand end to power cuts

Some areas in the city are being subjected to 18 hours of load-shedding.

PESHAWAR:

Residents of suburbs in the city took to the streets on Sunday against paralysing power outages and subsequent lack of potable water in their areas.

Residents of Afridiabad, Musazai, Badhaber and Mohmandabad protested on Ring Road, with enraged participants chanting slogans against the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda). They said Wapda officials were conducting load-shedding in shifts of up to 18 hours in the sweltering heat, adversely affecting the supply of water in their homes.

They lamented the government had not shown any commitment in resolving the issue on a permanent basis and claimed their business and household activities had been severely curtailed.

Traffic on Ring Road remained jammed for several hours due to the protests.

Muhammad Shah, a resident of Afridiabad, said no Wapda officials had visited his area to solve the issue despite repeated requests to repair a dysfunctional transformer. “The transformer has been out of order in my locality for a week,” he added. Shah further said locals from the affected area had even collected donations to repair the transformer. “Wapda officials are reluctant to provide us with services despite this,” Shah said.

“We are being subjected to 22 hours of load-shedding,” complained a resident of Musazai village. The resident claimed power outages had resulted in an acute shortage of water as there was no electricity to run tube wells and water pumps.

Enterprising shopkeepers make battery-operated pedestal fans to combat persistent power outages. PHOTO: PPI

The power supply in urban and rural areas of the city has gone from bad to worse in the past few days, prompting concerned parents to ask the government to announce summer vacations for school-going children immediately.



When contacted, Peshawar Electric Supply Company spokesperson Shaukat Afzal said the electricity supply issue had worsened after militants destroyed a main power supply line running from Tarbela Dam to Shaikh Muhammadi Grid Station on the outskirts of Swabi. “The power outages will be resolved once repair work is completed on the affected power supply line.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2013.