JACOBABAD, Oct 14: People braved 12-hour-long power breakdown in Kashmore—Kandhkot district on Tuesday.

The residents of the district complained that prolonged power outages had made their lives miserable.

The residents of Kashmore, Kandhkot, Tangwani, Karampur and Ghouspur held protest demonstrations against power outages. A protest rally was taken out by the students of Government Degree College here.

Carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the Hesco and shifting of engineering college, the protesters after marching through different roads reached Wapda office. They raised slogans against Wapda and burnt tyres.

Later, they arrived at DCO road where they observed a sit-in and blocked the road. The businessmen complained that they had suffered heavy losses due to prolonged outages. They complained that Wapda authorities did not pay attention to their problems and they were made to bear heavy losses.

They said that due to load-shedding, wheat flour was being sold at the rate of Rs35 to Rs40 per kg as most of the time, atta chakkis remained closed.

When contacted, the Wapda XEN was not available; however, a spokesman for the Hesco said that the system of load-shedding was under the control of Guddu grid station authorities.

When contacted at Kashmore grid station, an official said that power loadshedding was regulated by a Hesco centre in Hyderabad and added that on their order they were carrying 10 hours load-shedding to meet power shortage.