Power woes: Villagers protest 36-hour power outage

FAISALABAD:

Scores of residents of Sandhilianwali and adjoining areas on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration against 36 hours of power outage in their neighbourhood.

The protesters gathered at Chowk Sandhilianwali and staged a sit-in there.

Talking to newsmen, Akhtar Hussain, one of the protesters, said there had been no power for over 36 hours. “People are having problems collecting water to drink and bathe in,” he said.

Zaeem Khan, another protestor, said they had requested the SDO to restore power supply but their complaints and requests had been ignored.  The protesters blocked the Faisalabad-Multan Road near Sandhilianwali Chowk, suspending traffic for several hours.  They chanted slogans against FESCO authorities and demanded immediate restoration of electricity to their neighbourhood.

Later, a police contingent headed by Aroti SHO Mukhtar Ahmad met the protesters and assured them that the issue would be resolved.

The Aroti SHO called SDO Rao Abid Bashir who said power would be restored immediately.  The protesters dispersed on this assurance.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Bashir said the system was experiencing some technical faults and the FESCO engineers were working on removing it.  “We will restore power supply to Sandhilianwali as soon as possible,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2015.