GILGIT: Women on Monday staged protest and blocked the main road in Gilgit against prolonged power outages and a drinking water shortage in the Jutial area, while students of Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) also took to the streets over non-payment of their school fees.

A large number of women staged a sit-in outside the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court and blocked the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam road in Gilgit city, protesting extended electricity outages and a lack of drinking water in Jutial.

The protesting women chanted slogans against the government, alleging its failure to provide basic facilities such as electricity and clean drinking water.

Speaking on the occasion, a women’s representative said residents of Hussainabad Colony, Yasin Colony, Diamer Colony, Netco Colony, and other areas had been deprived of water for the past two weeks. She said water supply to upper Jutial had been suspended for several days.

Allege corruption, poor governance behind crisis

The protesters said they had previously been receiving water once every couple of days to store in tanks for drinking and daily use. However, for the past 10 days, no water had been supplied.

Residents are also facing up to 22 hours of electricity load-shedding daily, preventing water pumps from operating even when water becomes available in the pipeline.

Another protester criticised the government for failing to provide basic necessities, blaming corruption and poor governance for the crisis. She said successive governments had failed to resolve electricity issues despite spending billions of rupees annually.

Negotiations with protesters

Later, GB Caretaker Home Minister Sajid Ali Baig and district administration officials reached the site, held negotiations with the protesters, and convinced them to end the demonstration.

Traffic on Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam remained suspend for several hours, causing long queues on both sides of the road and difficulties for commuters.

Students stage protest

Meanwhile, the students of PBM Sweet Home staged a protest demonstration at Public Chowk in Gilgit against the administration for failing to pay their school fees.

The protesting students opposed the decision to shift them from Police Public School to a government-run institution. The students, who said they were orphan boys residing at PBM Sweet Home in Gilgit, said that they had been enrolled in a private school but were expelled due to non-payment of fees by the PBM administration.

They alleged that officials were denying them their educational rights and demanded restoration of their previous school arrangements.

Caretaker Home Minister Sajid Ali Baig visited the protest site, met the students and officials, and took notice of the issue.

The minister directed the relevant authorities to monitor the situation and ensure a permanent solution to the problem.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2026