MULTAN, Nov 2: Traders and residents of different areas on Saturday staged protests at least in three city areas against prolonged and unscheduled power outages and blocked roads.

Holding banners inscribed with slogans against the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) and the government, the Cantonment Bazaar traders blocked Main Qasim Bela Road, demanding end to the loadshedding.

Because of the road blockade, people had to suffer in long queues of vehicles.

The protesters said the Pakistan Muslim League-N government had failed to address the core issues faced by the nation. They said the outages had badly affected their businesses.

The residents of New Multan also held a protest demonstration against the power loadshedding. The protesters also blocked the main General Bus Stand road for traffic for over an hour.

They said the PML-N leadership had promised to resolve the energy crisis during the election campaign. They warned if the current spate of outages continued the government would have to face wrath of the people in local body polls.

Similarly, the residents of Soraj Miani protested against the loadshedding and blocked the main Soraj Miani road, throwing traffic out of gear for more than two hours.

They said over 16-hour power outages in an urban locality showed that the situation in rural areas would be even worse.