PESHAWAR: Commuters and motorists were caught in traffic jams on major thoroughfares for several hours as people of various localities of the provincial metropolis blocked key roads leading to the cantonment, Hayatabad and the main city against excessive power cuts.

Consumers belonging to Sufid Dheri, Abdara and adjacent areas protested on the University Road against the power outages.

They blocked both sides of the road and shouted slogans against the federal government and Peshawar Electric Supply Company. They said they faced severe difficulties due to prolonged and unannounced loadshedding.

The protesters, mainly youth, said power outages caused severe water shortages.

Pesco spokesman says load management carried out in areas with high line losses

Long queues of vehicles were seen on the University Road starting from near the Town police station up to entrance of the Hayatabad Township. Scores of ambulances, carrying patients to nearby Khyber Teaching Hospital, were also stuck in the traffic jam, which continued for many hours.

The protesters were not willing to allow any motorist to proceed. Traffic policemen were seen diverting traffic to alternate routes passing through congested localities.

Similarly, residents of Nauthia, Landi Arbab, Dalazak Road, Regi, Mulazai and Lakaro areas also demonstrated against long power cuts.

The residents of Regi, Mulazai, Lakaro and Pir Bala blocked the Warsak Road, shouting slogans against Pesco officials. The protesters said they had been facing power cuts over the past two months. They threatened to continue protests on a daily basis if the higher Pesco authorities didn’t order an end to the outages.

Usman Saleem, a Pesco spokesman, told Dawn that the load management was carried out only in areas where line losses were high. He added that no load management was carried out in areas with zero losses.

Pesco teams, he said regularly conducted operations across the province to reduce losses.

About the complaints regarding 16-18 hours power cuts in some areas, he said these localities had 80 per cent power theft rate and consumers didn’t pay their monthly bills. He said Pesco could not allow anyone to indulge in power theft.

The spokesman said hundreds of protesters stormed Dalazak grid station the previous night (Thursday), and shut the power supply down from all feeders connected to the grid by force.

He said electric supply was suspended to most areas of Peshawar due to switching off the grid station.

The Pesco spokesman said many protesters belonged to Galuzai, Mohammadzai and Gul Bela feeders, where line losses were 91pc, 89pc and 75pc, respectively. He said due to excessive line losses, load management was carried out on these feeders.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2024