QUETTA: Growers blocked all national highways to protest over unannounced loadshedding in Balochistan.

Members of Growers Action Committee staged a protest demonstration and blocked Quetta-Chaman highway in Pishin district to protest over prolonged load shedding.

The blockade resulted in suspension of traffic between neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Nato supply was also off the road during the protest. “Qesco has forced us to come on roads to save our crops”, Syed Abdul Qahar Agha, a protesting grower, told Dawn.com.

He claimed that power outages had caused growers financial losses worth billions of rupees. “Whenever our crop and orchard season arrives, Qesco suspends power supply”, Agha lamented.

He claimed growers were left with no option other than coming out on the roads and protesting against power outages.

Growers also blocked the National Highway linking Quetta with Karachi at Mastung. Long queues of trucks and other small vehicles were witnessed on the highways.

Passengers waiting in buses and mini wagons suffered the most. Moreover, women and children were also affected by the growers’ agitation.

Growers claim that there are 18 to 20 hours load shedding in Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Khuzdar, Kalat, Mastung and other parts of central and northern Balochistan.