PESHAWAR, June 27: The charged power consumers on Monday held protest demonstrations and blocked roads in parts of Peshawar against the unscheduled and prolonged loadshedding.

The protesters blocked the Peshawar-Kohat Road at Badbher by placing stones on it at least for three hours in the morning, forcing passengers to reach their destinations on foot.

Speaking on the occasion an elder Arshad Khan advocate said that if the government did not ensure smooth supply of electricity they would close the road on daily basis. The road was opened on the assurance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Deputy Speaker Khushdil Khan, that he was also suffering from the problem and it was his duty to solve it at the earliest.

The residents of Ameen Colony, Yakatoot, Daura Road and Afridi Abad also took to streets against the loadshedding and shouted slogans against the Peshawar Electric Supply Company. The protesters said they were regularly paying monthly bills but even then additional units were added to their bills for unknown reasons.

They said the government had failed to fulfill its responsibilities as the poor people were suffering due to prolonged power outages. Power consumers warned that if the government did not ensure smooth power supply they would stop paying monthly bills. SWABI:

Protesters set on fire their electricity bills here on Monday near the Swabi interchange on Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway declaring till the excessive loadshedding was not ended they would not pay their bills as a protest. The people from various areas, including congested Anbar, Hund, Kaya, Khunda, Sheikh Dheri and various other small villages gathered at the Swabi interchange, holding bills in their hands and chanting slogans against Wapda, Pesco and the federal and provincial governments. The call of the protest was given by the Hund Welfare Trust and the protesters were led by activists of PTI. They vowed that no political party would be allowed to use the protest for political purposes.