BADIN, Aug 23: Hesco was adding to the miseries of citizens due to the erratic power supply and frequent power failures which has been going on for at least a month.

These complaints were made by the consumers of Badin at a meeting of the small traders on Wednesday night.

The meeting discussed the problems being faced by the people at large including frequent power breakdowns, encroachments, and the narcotics trade.

The citizens alleged that power failure in the towns of the district had become the order of the day and they had been living without electricity almost 18 hours a day since at least a month.

They blamed the Hesco for inefficiency and corruption.

Khan Saheb Allah Bachayo, a social worker of the town said, “We don’t know whom to approach, where to go, and what to do to get our grievances redressed as our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”

Maqbool Ahmed said, “We are at a loss to find a way to get out of our predicament, while the Hesco staff are indifferent. The water supply stands paralysed and everything is at a standstill.”

On this occasion, the District Police Officer also had complaints against the Hesco staff. He said that he had tried several times to contact the Hesco officials about the frequent power breakdowns, but none of them were prepared to respond properly.

A day earlier the people of Pangrio town came out on the streets where they burnt tyres in protest against the frequent power breakdowns.

In Badin, the power went off at 3am on Thursday and was restored after seven hours at 10am.

The meeting was attended among others by the representatives of NGOs, prominent citizens, traders, businessmen, the district police officer, chief investigation officer, and other officers of the district.