PESHAWAR: People staged street protests in several areas here on Thursday against the prolonged and unscheduled power cuts.

The demonstrators also blocked the Kohat Road, GT Road and University Road, inconveniencing motorists and commuters.

They flayed the federal government and Pesco over the suspension of power supply for long hours and insisted that power cuts had forced people to take to the streets.

The protesters also complained that power outages also caused acute water shortage in many areas forcing residents to fetch water from far-off areas.

Participants block roads, also complain of water shortages

They criticised political leaders over what they called indifference to the people’s misery and said the situation left them with no option but to block roads to highlight the issue.

“We will continue protesting until this problem is resolved,” a demonstrator said.

The protesters demanded smooth power supply to the villages around the Kohat Road.

Motorist Mohammad Rafiq complained that he got stuck on the Peshawar-Kohat Road for around three hours due to a power protest.

“We [drivers] requested protesters many times to give us the way to move on but they refused. Many people got off public transport vehicles to cover long distances on foot as stones were placed on the road to block traffic,” he said.

The people also blocked the Ring Road at Kabootar Chowk and shouted slogans against the government over power cuts.

A power protest was also staged on the University Road suspending traffic for some time amid sloganeering against the government and Pesco over failure to supply electricity to them.

The participants said the frequent power outages had made their life miserable.

They said that they struggled to manage domestic and commercial activities due to power suspension for long hours.

The demonstrators said that the prolonged and unannounced power outages had paralysed life in the provincial capital.

When contacted, spokesman for the Peshawar Electric Supply Company Usman Saleem claimed that one of the reasons for power cuts was the demand-supply gap.

He said that the maintenance of faulty power lines was imperative for which permission of authorities was required.

“The electricity demand is 3323 megawatts but its supply is 2,150 megawatts only,” he said.

The spokesman also said that out of 1,262 power feeders, 250-300 were “overloaded.”

In Charsadda, people took to the streets in different parts of the city amid severe heat against the excessive power cuts, tripping and low voltage.

The rallies were staged in Tangi, Umarzai, Shabqadar Saddar Garhi, Sardheri, Uthmanzai and other areas. The protesters blocked roads shouting slogans against Pesco and demanding smooth electric supply.

They complained that prolonged and unscheduled power cuts coupled with low voltage had troubled them.

The protesters said they regularly paid huge electricity bills but the Pesco still subjected them to power suspension for as long as 20 hours every day.

They said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced thermal electricity but it was denied to the residents and provided to the people in other provinces in an unfair act.

In Kohat, the local body members and consumers of Old Jarma on Thursday blocked the Indus Highway against the removal of their area from the Lachi express feeder and putting it on another overloaded feeder.

Also, the residents of Muhammadzai, Nasratkhel and Kaghazai areas blocked the Hangu highway against ‘inhuman’ electricity loadshedding.

The Jarma residents lamented that the Peshawar Electric Supply Company had cut them from the Lachi express feeder and transferred them to another overloaded feeder, thus increasing power shutdowns in their area.

They alleged Pesco had done so at the behest of some influential people from Chambai and Sorgul areas, who wanted to get supply from Lachi feeder.

The protesters ended the agitation after negotiations with the police and getting an assurance from Pesco executive engineer rural that their concerns would be addressed.

Similarly, the protesters, who blocked the Hangu highway, warned that if Pesco did not end loadshedding and improve voltage they would gain come onto the roads.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023