KARAK, May 25: The residents of Jehangeri union council took to streets against disconnection of power supply to over a dozen localities and blocked Indus Highway for several hours on Monday.

The protesters, led by Mansoor Ahmad and Haji Rehmatullah, marched to Indus Highway and blocked it at Hamidan Chowk to all kinds of vehicular traffic.

They claimed that Pesco disconnected power supply to more than a dozen localities two weeks ago. They said that people in the district were facing acute shortage of drinking water owing 22-hour power loadshedding.

The leaders of the protesters alleged that Pesco authorities were not evolving a mechanism to collect arrears and monthly bills from the consumers. They said that they would not end the protest until they were assured by the competent authority of resolving the issue.

Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of highway and the passengers faced severe hardships owing to the blockade of road.

Later, DSP Gul Jamal and Pesco deputy director Arif Khan visited the protesters and negotiated with them. The deputy director assured them that power supply would be restored to the areas till May 30.

Meanwhile, the residents of Kurd Sharif, Showanki Deta Mine, Kurd Payan and other adjacent localities staged protest here on Monday against the authorities for not treating leishmaniasis, a skin disease, properly.

The people of different localities in the area, led by Ikhtiar Rehman Khattak, gathered at Kurd Sharif and block Kurd-Mianwali Road for a while to record their protest.

They said that the disease affected about 203 people in the area. They demanded of the health department to carry out anti-mosquitoes spray in the area and provide free of cost medicines to the affected people.

The protesters said that more than 50 patients went to Mianwali district for treatment as there was no health facility in the area. They demanded of the health department to take emergency steps to cope with the situation. They said that special teams of doctors should be sent to the remote area to provide treatment facilities to the poor patients.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2015

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