Faisalabad outage: Power protesters go on rampage

Police fire teargas shells to disperse protesters who ransack FESCO office.

FAISALABAD:

Incensed by frequent power outages in sultry summer, scores of people attacked a grid station in Faisalabad after their hours-long sit-in failed to move the authorities.

The protesters, mostly residents of the Balochni neighbourhood, staged a noisy sit-in outside a sub-divisional office of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) near Adda Johal for eight hours.

The protesters complained about unscheduled load shedding in the entire Faisalabad district. According to them, some areas had to go without electricity for up to 20 hours a day.

Angered by the ‘apathy’ of Fesco officials, who were apparently unmoved by the sit-in, the protesters attacked the office building, ransacking the furniture inside. They also smashed the windows of nearly two dozen private vehicles parked outside the office.

The office guards did not challenge the protesters, who were armed with iron rods and sticks. Instead they called in police to disperse the protesters. Police fired tear gas shells and used batons to scare away the protesters. They also chased the protesters into the nearby houses.  The Fesco chief executive officer, Rana Abdul Jabbar Khan, said that most of the protesters were residents of the nearby area, which was getting power supply from the industrial grid stations.



Industrial feeders were earlier subjected to four hours of load-shedding daily, Khan said, adding that the duration has been increased to 12 hours in compliance with the SC orders.

The top district administrator denied that the protesters were tortured or that the police chased them into nearby homes.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2013.