Load shedding: Grid station taken over by power rioters

Mob attacks premises after 22 hours of load shedding, staff flees.

MULTAN:

Following 22 hours of load shedding at stretch, a mob of angry citizens from Taunsa and adjoining areas attacked Taunsa Grid Station on Monday.

The staff at the grid station fled. Their cell phones have been switched off.

The protesters broke into the grid station and shut down electricity supply to the entire Dera Ghazi Khan sub-district and reportedly rerouted electricity to their own feeder.

Police have surrounded the grid station but no negotiations had taken place till the filing of this report.

MEPCO has increased security at all grid stations and offices. Police guards have been stationed at all grid stations in the division to prevent similar attacks.

As the mercury rises, so has unscheduled load shedding in several south Punjab districts. More than a hundred protest demonstrations have been held against the load shedding which has gone up to 20 to 22 hours in some areas.

There have been 135 protest rallies in Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar, Khushab, Mianwali, Layyah, Muzafargarh, Rajanpur, Sahiwal, Pakpattan and Okara since Saturday.

The temperature has reached almost 44 degree Celsius in several parts of the region. Most of the protests have been held in rural areas that have been hit hardest by the load shedding.

Three separate protest demonstrations were held on the Indus Highway which remained blocked for up to eight hours on Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.