SIALKOT, July 8: Seven people, including two women, were injured by an anguished mob which was protesting against long power breakdowns and unscheduled loadshedding in the district on Saturday. There was no improvement in the situation till last reports came in.

Reports said hundreds of people staged demonstrations in Sialkot city’s Shahabpura area, China chowk, Allama Iqbal chowk and other congested areas. They threw traffic out of gear on the main Defence Road for about one and-a-half hour by burning tyres and parking 40-foot long cargo container.

Holding hockey sticks, iron rods, stones and bricks, they attacked several public transport and private vehicles damaging their windscreens and side screens. As they pelted some vehicles with stones, six people, two of them women, in a public transport suffered injuries. The mob further exhibited its rage by throwing bottles of cold drinks which they got hold of by stopping vehicles of a known company.

An official vehicle of the Uggoki police station was damaged and its driver (constable) Akhlaq Ahmad was injured. He was admitted to hospital in critical condition.

Sooty banners and placards lashed out at the Wapda authorities and the protesters also chanted slogans.

The Gepco’s circle office on the main Shahabpura Road also came under attack and its main gate and outer walls were damaged.

The mob also tried to set fire to the building. As a police contingent reached the troubled spot, the anguished crowd hurled stones and bricks on them inviting baton-charge. Several people and policemen suffered minor wounds during the clash. The police, however, controlled the situation after three hours.

The mob also hurled stones at various trains parked at the Sialkot junction railway station and on tracks but passengers were shifted to the safer places. However, the rail traffic remained suspended for three hours on the city’s main track, officials of the Pakistan Railways told journalists.

Lawyers staged protest on the call of the district bar association.

Sialkot DPO Dr Tariq Khokhar told newsmen that security had been heightened at all Gepco offices in the district to avert any untoward incident. Later, District Nazim Muhammad Akmal Cheema claimed that the situation was under control.

Meanwhile, electricity breakdowns and loadshedding continued for 18 to 20 hours in almost all parts of the district.

Domestic difficulties apart, the local industry expressed deep concern as the officials claimed they had been facing huge financial losses.

The Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry unanimously passed a condemnation resolution and urged the government to take immediate measures to ensure relief to the people. SCCI president Dr Nauman Idress Butt told newsmen that most of the 5,000 small industrial units in Sialkot had already been closed down owing to prolonged power problems. An uncountable number of labourers and daily-wagers had been rendered jobless in the last few months, he added.

The local exporters said hundreds of export orders placed by the foreign customers had been cancelled as they were unable to dispatch the consignments to the destinations in time.

Another two persons died due to scorching heat and humidity while 11 others fainted in different parts of the district. Those who met death were Saien Dad, 52, and Bashir Ahmad.

Azra Bibi, Bushra Khanum, Khalid, Munam, Anam and Kinza were among those being treated at various hospitals after they fainted.

KASUR: Hundreds of lawyers, led by District Bar Association president Chaudhry Munir Ahmad, took out a rally against unscheduled loadshedding.

Assembling near the Ferozepur Road grid station, they raised slogans against Wapda officials. Later, they moved to the authority’s office on Abdul Qadir Road to register their protest.

The DBA president said lawyers, trader organisations and political parties would observe a shutter-down strike on Monday (tomorrow) if the situation was not improved.

Meanwhile, finance secretary Chaudhry Asghar Ali Dogar said power failures had created an acute shortage of potable water in some residential areas.

OKARA: Hours long power outages continued in Okara as in many other parts of the province, making the people suffer the worst weather conditions.

The public has complained that the Wapda authorities are not even listening to them.

SAHIWAL: Three protest rallies were held in Sahiwal where people have been facing long power breakdowns and loadshedding.

Among the protesters were the Jamaat-i-Islami leaders who said the situation spoke volumes for the government’s failure and demanded that the incumbent rulers should step down.

As traffic had to be diverted as a result of protest on the GT Road, people faced a great deal of inconvenience in reaching destinations.