June 14, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

MARDAN, June 13: Mardan Nazim Himayatullah Khan Mayar has announced that the people of the district will hold a protest march and ‘raid’ the offices of the Water and Power Development Authority on June 20 if loadshedding is not stopped.

More than 200 elected representatives, lawyers, traders, students, growers and journalists attended a meeting presided over by the district nazim at the Town Hall here on Wednesday.

The nazim condemned unscheduled loadshedding in the district. He said people were staging protests against Wapda, which was creating other problems, especially in smooth flow of traffic.

He claimed that local and unannounced loadshedding in various areas was illegal and Wapda officials were liable to be charged under Section 40 of the Electricity Act. He said Wapda authorities did not respond to the language of peace and dialogue and they had to be dealt with sternly.

He said that in Punjab, where thousands of industries were operating day and night, loadshedding was imposed only for half an hour daily, while in Mardan, which did not have any factory, people had to endure hours of unscheduled loadshedding, which was unacceptable.

The participants condemned continuous, hours-long loadshedding in the district and said that the people, particularly students and patients, were facing severe problems. They alleged that loadshedding was never extended to the homes of high officials of Wapda and influential people, although it was contended that there was shortage of water in the rivers.