SUKKUR, Aug 25: The Sukkur Chamber of Commerce and Industry has rejected the proposed increase in electricity tariff by Nepra and called on the prime minister to reject the proposal.

The president and other-office bearers the chamber in their weekly meeting on Monday said that National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has proposed a massive increase for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers through a summary submitted to the ministry of water and power.

They said that the proposed increase in the tariff would be imposed upon eight power distributing companies, out of which Peshawar and Hyderabad electric supply companies will have to face an higher increase compared to other companies, which is quite unjust and wrong.

They said that Nepra has proposed an average increase of Rs2.86 per unit due to which the present rates of electricity, Rs4.70 per unit, would shot up to Rs7.56 per unit.

Criticizing the proposal, they demanded of the prime minister to reject it immediately.

OUTAGE: Kashmore city and its adjacent areas were without electricity since midnight of Sunday due to a major fault developed in the main transformer of the city.

The fault occurred in the main transformer of Kashmore grid station, tripping Kashmore city feeder, Khoso Mori feeder, Guddu Colony-I feeder and cantonment feeder. The fault could not be rectified till the filing of this report.

Kashmore- based journalists contacted the Hesco high ups but no one came up with a satisfactory reply.

BATON CHARGE: Police used batons to disperse motor mechanics who were protesting on Sukkur-Shikarpur road here on Monday against accumulation of drain water at new bus terminal at Sukkur bypass.

Scores of motor mechanics led by Allah Dad Bozdar staged protest demonstration, while shouting slogans against the taluka municipal administration which according to them, have miserably failed to provide civic amenities to the people.

Later, the enraged protestors staged a sit-in at Sukkur-Shikarpur and suspended vehicular traffic for an hour.

In the meantime, heavy contingent of police rushed to the scene and asked the protestors to lift the blockade. On their refusal police used batons to disperse them. Five of the protesters received minor injuries.

However, the blockade ended after an assurance that sewerage water would be drained out within 24 hours.