CHARSADDA, June 4: Protest rallies were held and roads were blocked in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday against the prolonged power outages.

A protest rally was held by various trade organisations in Charsadda. The protesters said that they would set up a three-day hunger strike camp from Tuesday if loadshedding was not ended in the district.

The traders said that they would not pay electricity bills till complete end to loadshedding. They also hinted at moving Peshawar High Court against the power loadshedding.

Wearing shrouds and raising slogans against Pesco, the enraged protestors were taking a mock coffin of Wapda on their shoulders. They passed through various roads and reached Farooq Azam Chowk where the rally converted into a public gathering.

Jewellers Association president Iftikhar Hussain, Maqsood Jan, Tailors Association president Habib Khan and local leaders of different political parties addressed the protesters.

In Swabi, the activists of Jamaat-i-Islami blocked Chota Lahor-Adina Road to all kinds of traffic on Monday to protest the excessive power outages.

Led by former MNA Usman Khan, the JI workers gathered in Yar Hussain Bazaar and marched through the main market. They were chanting slogans against Pesco and government.

Mr Usman said that people were spending sleepless nights owing to power loadshedding. The children and elderly people were hit hard by the power outages, he added. In Mansehra, the traders on Monday observed complete shutdown strike and blocked Karakoram Highway to protest prolonged and unscheduled loadshedding. “Our businesses are on the brink of complete collapse and we can’t afford expenses of our school going children as 18-hour loadshedding has badly affected our businesses,” Haroonur Rasheed, a trader leader, told the enraged protesters.

Besides Karakoram Highway, other roads in the districts were also blocked by the protesters.