HANGU, May 1: People protesting against suspension of electricity supply blocked the Hangu-Kohat road on Tuesday as some flour mills in the area were closed because of low voltage.

Power supply to the city and other parts of the district is suspended for the past eight days because of a fault in the main grid station. The suspension has caused shortage of drinking water in many localities and affected business activities.

Workers of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam took out a procession from a seminary and blocked the road at Station Chowk. Another procession was taken out from a mosque, while traders observed a strike.

Speaking to the protesters, leaders deplored that the Water and Power Development Authority had failed to provide a transformer for the grid station, because of which electricity supply to the area had been stopped.

They said the residents of the area were also facing shortage of water as tube-wells were not working because of low voltage. They demanded that Wapda should install a new transformer at the grid station.

The flour mills association staged a demonstration in front of the Hangu Press Club and gave a 24-hour deadline to Wapda to restore electricity, threatening to close down all the mills if the demand was not met.

Speaking at a press conference, the association’s president Zahid Bangash said low voltage had adversely affected production of the mills, which had hit flour supply to Orakzai and Kurram Agencies and other areas. He said the mills had suspended grinding because of low voltage.

He said Wapda officials planned to dispatch a 37MAV transformer from Shahi Bagh grid station in Peshawar but the Hangu grid station required 40MAV transformer. This would leave the problem of low voltage unsolved, he said.