SWABI: The activists of a social welfare organisation will hold its second march to Tarbela dam today (Monday) after hectic preparations and mobilising local residents for demanding substantial reduction in power tariffs.

They planned to reach Tarbela dam power house and stage a sit-in till the acceptance of their demands by the quarters concerned.

The leaders of ‘Da Haq Awaz’ organisation said on Sunday that their demands included 300 free units per household from Tarbela dam for the people of the area; Rs 3 per unit electricity tariff for domestic consumers; commercial and industrial units at Rs 8 per unit and justice for Tarbela dam and Ghazi Brotha Hydropower Project’s affectees.

It was also stressed that the provincial government should immediately adjust the Tarbela dam’s royalty in the electricity bills of Swabi people and provide solar system to every household. The protest organisers also demanded demarcation of Swabi and Haripur districts and ending power load shedding in both the districts.

“To solve these problems, we have planned to enter the red zone of Tarbela power house and stage protest,” said the organisation’s head Inhsanul Haq Bamkhelvi, adding that their demands had already been forwarded to the dam’s authorities.

They asked the protesters to gather in front of GIK institute at 11.30am for initiating a protest march towards Tarbela dam.

When contacted, Tarbela Dam General Manager Nasruminllah told Dawn that he did not know about any public’s protest plan.

ILLEGAL FUEL OUTLETS: Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) local chapter’s representatives said that selling of fuel at open places posed grave danger to human lives and demanded of the district authorities to take legal action against illegal mini-petrol pumps across the district.

Speaking at ‘Meet the Press’ programme at local press club, PDA’s president Fazal Amin, senior vice president Rohal Amin Khan and others said that the government should instruct the departments concerned to take stern action against countless illegalmini-petrol pumps and unlawful sale of fuel in the area.

“We demand of the local administration to initiate a crackdown against illegal roadside mini-petrol pumps in district on priority basis and book their owners for doing illegal business,” Fazal Amin added.

Rohal Amin said that all petrol pump owners, affiliated with PDA, paid heavy taxes to the government and followed all required safety measures ,whereas, these illegal mini-petrol pumps were posing serious threats to the lives of common people.

They warned that if the authorities failed to take action against illegal fuel outlets in the district, they would have no option but to stage a protest demonstration.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024