Back to the Stone Age: 16-hour-long outage makes festivities a dull affair

Activist complains Shabqadar deprived of electricity despite generation of power nearby

SHABQADAR: Locals celebrated Eid without electricity in their houses as there was a 16-hour-long power outage in Shabqadar on the day.

“We are deprived of electricity even though it is produced at dams located nearby,” said  social activist, Syed Nadir Shah.

He added Shabqadar was located between Swat and Kabul rivers “where Warsak Dam is already producing power and the government also plans to construct Munda Dam on Swat River”. However he added, locals remain in the dark, quite literally.



Shah said Peshawar Electric Supply Company regularly made announcements regarding unpaid bills but had never mentioned how much electricity was produced by Warsak Dam.

“If Pesco will not stop the power cuts, then locals will go and stop the work on Munda Dam in protest.”

Outages were observed despite the fact that the prime minister and ministry of power had announced electricity would be provided uninterrupted on Eid days. However, the promise turned futile just like it did in Ramazan when locals remained sans electricity.

Some parts of Shabqadar grid station were set on fire in protests against prolonged outages on the second day of the holy month.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2015.