PESHAWAR, Aug 27: Hundreds of people from the rural parts of Town-II held a protest against the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) on Monday morning to express their anger over unannounced loadshedding and issuance of “inflated” bills.

The consumers from Wahid Garhi, Khazana, Ahmadabad, Mir Rehman Garhi, Kankula and other adjoining villages of Town-II gathered on the Charsadda Road and blocked it. They chanted slogans against Pesco officials for shutting down the power supply to their areas “in contravention of the announced loadshedding schedule”. They also accused the public utility of issuing inflated bills.

According to the residents, the blockade caused inconvenience to thousands of people — mainly government servants — who use the road daily for travelling to the provincial capital.

Israrullah advocate, naib nazim of Town-II, and other elected leaders, including Asif Khan and Nizamullah, nazim and naib nazim of the union council of Khazana respectively, soon arrived at the venue of the protest.

They accused Pesco senior officials of illegal loadshedding and issuing inflated bills in the rural parts of the provincial capital.

They said the Pesco, on the one hand, kept their areas without electricity for 10 to 12 hours on a daily basis while, on the other, the poor consumers were forced to pay thousands of rupees in monthly bills. They said that the public utility was using an unethical and unprofessional way just to achieve their revenue targets.

They said that consumers’ representatives had met the chief executive of Pesco and other senior officials a number of times but in vain. They asked the Pesco to stop such practices, otherwise they would hold a protest in front of the offices of the ministry of water and power in Islamabad.

Later, the local elders, elected representatives and Pesco officials reached an understanding after lengthy negotiations at the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Shafiullah Khan.

According to Mr Israrullah, officials of the public utility promised that there would be no loadshedding in violation of the announced schedule.

Similarly, the bills would be re-checked by Pesco officials in the presence of the respective union nazims, naib Nazims and councillors and corrections would be made accordingly. He added they also agreed to repair faulty transformers in the area.

PESCO SPOKESMAN: A Pesco spokesman denied reports of a written agreement with the consumers of Town-II.