ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government and Rural Development directed the ministry of water and power to investigate the issue of hours-long loadshedding as it had announced that the power disruption would not be more than half-an-hour.

The committee, which met here on Saturday under the chairmanship of MNA Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq Haqqani, also directed the Sui gas authorities to take effective measures for minimising the loadshedding of gas and to address the issue of excessive billing complaints.

The committee questioned the three to four hours-long loadshedding of electricity in rural areas, especially in Akora Khattak and Nowshehra.

The committee expressed concerns over slow progress of the Pak PWD. It directed the Wapda authorities to make Akora Khattak and Dawazgai feeders operational.

The meeting recommended that development funds for MNAs should be released at the earliest.—APP