SUKKUR, Dec 28: The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) which virtually defied Pepco schedule of loadshedding and suspended because of the presence of VIPs who thronged Naudero via Sukkur to pay homage to PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto on her first death anniversary, has again resorted to unannounced loadsheding ranging from 10 to 15 hours almost daily.

To avoid the wrath of the VIPs, the Hesco bosses almost ended the loadshedding from Dec 25 to 28 afternoon, till the battery of the federal ministers and a number of parliamentarians who disembarked at Sukkur airport and later left for Garhi Khuda Bakhsh and again used the same route to catch a flight for Islamabad from Sukkur during these four days.

All of a sudden, loadshedding in Sukkur and its adjoining areas was suspended right from 08:30 pm onward from December 25 to 12:45 pm of December 28, without taking into account “huge power generation shortfall and repeated appeals of Pepco to save energy”. The people were well aware that this relief was short lived and was managed only for the VIPS and not for the common men.

It may be mentioned here that after providing little relief to the people during the first fortnight of November, the Hesco citing the reason of massive shortfall in power generation had initiated a 15 to 18 hours loadshedding in upper Sindh, much against the schedule of Pepco, which had announced to observe loadshedding for four to six hours in the urban and rural areas from December 25.

On Sunday afternoon, office-bearers of different trade bodies, including Sukkur chamber of commerce and industry and Sukkur small traders, contacted Dawn to vent their anguish over the state of affairs prevailing in Hesco and demanded of the President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, federal minister for water and power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and other high-ups to take notice of officials’ attitude particularly of those who are looking after the regional control centre at Jamshoro.

They further said that Wapda authorities should notify actual shortfall of power generation as well as timing of loadshedding to be observed in the urban and rural areas of upper Sindh.

They also demanded of the chairman Wapda to order officers of the regional control centre, Jamshoro, for equally sharing distribution of shortfall among the three companies, Hesco, Mepco and Qesco.