BAJAUR/LAKKI MARWAT: Residents of the Lowi Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district on Wednesday blasted the Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (Tesco) for failing to repair the poles knocked down by a windstorm, suspending power supply to the region three weeks ago.

Talking to reporters, they said that the collapse of several poles of the transmission line supplying electricity to Lowi Mamund from the Khar grid station had suspended electric supply to most parts of the region.

Dr Faridullah, a social activist, said that the prolonged suspension of electricity was causing inconvenience to residents in the hot weather.

Residents said the prolonged blackout had hit the Lara Laghari, Bara Laghari, Zari, Gohati, Nakhtar, Kalan, Tarkhoo, Khorachai, Ghanam Shah and Mena areas.

Lakki elders threaten protest over excessive power cuts

Naqeeb Khan, a resident of the Laghari area, said they had repeatedly approached the Tesco officials to repair the poles, but to no avail.

“We would not have faced such a prolonged outage if Tesco officials had taken prompt action,” said Ajmal Khan, a resident of the Kitkoot village.

The residents urged the authorities concerned to fix the transmission line without delay.

Meanwhile, a Tesco official in Khar, while acknowledging the issue, told Dawn that efforts were underway to restore power to the affected areas.

“We are aware of the issue and have started repair work on the transmission line,” he added.

In Lakki Marwat, elders of Serai Naurang town have threatened to launch a protest if unscheduled electric loadshedding is not stopped within three days.

The warning came at a meeting held at the residence of Awami National Party district chief Malik Ali Sarwar in Naurang city on Wednesday.

Elders expressed resentment over excessive outages being carried out by the Peshawar Electric Supply Company in urban and rural areas of the town.

They said that long spells of electricity suspension had added to the troubles of residents as they were unable to carry out their daily chores.

Mr Sarwar, who is also the head of Musakhel Qaumi Jirga, said that they repeatedly requested local authorities to ensure adherence to the official load management schedule but to no avail.

He demanded that the local Pesco officials increase the duration of power supply from four to 10 hours daily. He said that the excessive power cuts had hit businesses and citizens’ lives.

He asked the district administration to direct the quarters concerned to provide relief to people by reducing the duration of loadshedding.

After learning about the elders’ concerns, Deputy Commissioner Hameedullah Khan directed Additional Assistant Commissioner Mehboobur Rehman to visit the venue of the meeting to engage the elders in negotiations.

Mr Rehman, along with police and Pesco officials, assured the elders that the administration would take up the matter with the authorities concerned to provide the residents with maximum relief during the scorching heat.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2026