Protesting power outages: Naudero residents threaten to block roads to Garhi Khuda Bux

The area has been braving prolonged hours of load-shedding for the past several days.

SUKKUR: Residents of Naudero have threatened to block all the roads leading to Garhi Khuda Bux on the occasion of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s death anniversary, if the prolonged power outages continue in their area.

The residents have been protesting the long hours of load-shedding for the last several days. Despite repeated assurances by the administration and power utility, there has been no respite. Like other parts of upper Sindh, the residents of Naudero have been forced to bear the brunt of prolonged power outages that are in addition to the scheduled load-shedding.

On March 19, hundreds of residents led by office bearers of the Shehri Action Committee, had launched a protest movement. For the next three days, the protesters camped outside the Naudero grid station, refusing to move until their demands were heard.

Subsequently, the office bearers of the district administration and the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) met the protesters and assured them of limiting the load-shedding to eight hours in urban areas and 10 hours in rural areas. On the very next day, power supply to some grids of Naudero was suspended for over 15 hours. The officials blamed it on a line fault.

The promised relief never transpired. Frustrated by the situation, the citizens took to the streets once again on Sunday and staged a sit-in outside the grid station. The Sepco authorities negotiated with the protesters again and repeated their promise of curbing load-shedding. This time, however, the citizens are taking no chances. They have warned to observe a shutter down strike on April 2 and April 3 as well as block all roads leading to Garhi Khuda Bux if the situation does not improve.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2015.