PESHAWAR: A large number of people of various villages on Sunday staged protest against power outages and restored supply of electricity by force to their areas from Rehman Baba grid station on Ring Road and Industrial grid station on Kohat Road.

Led by former MPA of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Haji Fazl Ilahi, the protesters entered Rehman Baba grid station and restored power supply, which was suspended since Sunday morning.

Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) has started observing 18 to 20 hours loadshedding in various villages located on the outskirts of the provincial capital including Garhi Atta Mohammad, Dir Colony, Ghareebabad, Garhi Hayat Khan and Tor Baba area.

“We entered the grid station at 2pm and still sitting inside it along with scores of people,” one of the protesters told Dawn. He said that a large number of protesters were also sitting outside the grid station.

Pesco officials approach police for registration of FIR

He said that Pesco officials would again suspend supply of power to their villages if they ended their protest or left the grid station. The protesters also chanted slogans against Pesco officials.

Earlier in the day, the villagers made announcements through loudspeakers from mosques, asking locals to come out of their homes for the protest against what they called the illegal loadshedding of electricity imposed on them by Pesco.

“The protesters will sit inside the grid station until a written agreement is finalised with Pesco officials about the schedule for power outages,” a villager of Garhi Atta Mohammad told Dawn.

He said that Pesco officials came for negotiation during which the protesters requested them to reduce the duration of loadshedding to 12 hours but they were not ready to agree with the propoal.

He said that excessive loadshedding of electricity made lives of villages miserable.

Through social media, former MPA Haji Fazal Ilahi also made announcements, asking the residents of Bazidkhel, Garhi Qamar Din, Scheme Chowk, Kaga Walla, Bahadar Kallay to assemble outside the grid stations of their respective areas.

“These areas are fed by Kohat Road grid station and Tajabad grid station but the people of these areas often complain about excessive power outages,” he said.

The former MPA said that he would not allow anyone to usurp the rights of the people of his constituency. “I will fight for our people’s rights throughout my life,” he added.

Pesco spokesperson Mohammad Usman, when contacted, said that PTI leader Haji Fazl Ilahi threatened the staff of Rehman Baba and Industrial grid stations and forcefully restored supply of electricity to the villages.

“Our officers have submitted applications with Rehman Baba police station and Bhana Mari police station for registration of FIR against the protesters,” he said.

He said that the former MPA gathered a large number of people against Pesco to get political mileage. He alleged that localities in the constituency of Fazal Ilahi were included in the areas of high losses. He said that instead of restoring supply of electricity by force, the issue could have been resolved through dialogue.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023