LAKKI MARWAT: A violent protest erupted here on Thursday as the residents ransacked a grid station and attacked the Peshawar Electric Supply Company’s installations in the Naurang town to protest prolonged power cuts.

Also in the day, a mob forcibly entered a grid station in the provincial capital and restored power supply from feeders.

In Lakki Marwat district, the residents of the Mamakhel area, carrying batons, stormed the 132KV grid station, sub-divisional offices and warehouse, and damaged the building with stones.

A video clip circulating on social media platforms showed young protesters pelt stones and bricks on the building, smashing windowpanes and other goods.

Peshawar grid station also ransacked by protesters

The attack also caused damage to electricity meters, furniture, computers and other equipment, besides office records.

The ransacking of the grid station halted power supply to the entire town.

Earlier, the protesters gathered near a local flour mill and staged a demonstration.

The protesters criticised Pesco over “excessive” power outages.

Their elders said the rural areas linked with the Mamakhel feeder were badly hit by the prolonged power outages in the hot and humid weather.

They said the unscheduled loadshedding had troubled the rural population, especially women and children.

The elders said the residents regularly paid utility bills but even then, they’re subjected to prolonged power suspension.

They demanded the Pesco crack down on power thieves and defaulters instead of suspending electric supply to consumers regularly paying bills.

A resident told Dawn that the protesters marched on the Bannu-DI Khan Road and closed it to traffic after their talks with authorities failed.

He said the power supply wasn’t restored until the evening.

The closure of the busy road led to the long queues of vehicles, to the misery of people travelling between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

In a statement, the Pesco said protesters attacked the grid station, field office store, and sub-divisional office.

“The mobsters wielding batons and carrying stones vandalised our premises. They also threw out electricity meters, causing a loss of several hundred thousand of rupees to us,” it said.

The power utility said the protesters also stopped the power supply from the grid station to the entire Naurang town.

It added that the people from the area in the limits of Mamakhel feeder stormed the power installations.

“The Mamakhel feeder has over 68 per cent line losses and therefore, we have to carry out routine load management in the area,” it said.

Meanwhile, the power protesters closed a road and staged a sit-in before storming the Dalazak Road grid station in Peshawar.

They forcibly switched off feeders to restore electric supply.

In a statement, the Pesco said around 200 people barged into the grid station and forced the Guluzai and Muhammadzai feeders to resume power supply.

It said the protesters were being led by local government nazim Akhtar Ali of the PTI and leaders Iftikhar Naveed, Haji Nizamuddin and Malik Roshan.

“The mob also roughed up our staff members,” it claimed.

The Pesco said line losses on the Muhammadzai feeder totalled over 71 and those on the Guluzai feeder over 80 per cent.

It said that it had contacted the relevant police station for the registration of FIR against protesters.

Manzoor Ali in Peshawar also contributed reporting.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2024