DERA MURAD JAMALI: About 125 rice mills have stopped working in Jaffarabad district of Balochistan in protest against prolonged loadshedding of electricity.

Mill owners and workers set up a protest camp in Usta Mohammad on Tuesday.

Former chief minister of Balochistan Jan Mohammad Jamali visited the camp to express solidarity with the protesters.

In Usta Muhammad alone, he said, around 100 rice mills were working and giving millions of rupees in taxes and earning foreign exchange for the country through export of fine quality rice. But, he added, the attitude of the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (Qesco) was forcing the owners to close down their mills.

Mr Jamali said Qesco was supplying electricity only for two to three hours in a day in the rice husking season, causing huge financial losses to rice mills.

He pledged to take up the issue with the federal government and Wapda authorities.

Rice Mills Association president Haji Aslam Somroo told media personnels at the camp that 20 to 22 hours long loadshedding had compelled the owners to close down their mills.

He said several million tonnes of rice crops had been dumped at these mills which were unable to continue functioning due to power crisis.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2018