PESHAWAR, July 24: The power consumers in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued protesting against the prolonged and unscheduled electricity loadshedding on Tuesday.  

In Peshawar, hundreds of residents of Garhi Qamardin on Kohat Road held a big protest demonstration after Iftar against loadshedding and shouted anti-government slogans. They said the consumers were facing up to 14 hours outages especially during Sehr and Iftar.

Quoting the officials at the local grid station, they said they had been directed by the Pesco authorities to go for maximum loadshedding in Garhi Qamardin and other suburban localities so that the consumers in the rest of the city could be provided relief.

Talking to media persons they said the bill payment ratio of the villagers was far better as compared to all the suburban towns of Peshawar.

Former nazims, councillors and other elders who led the procession said there was no light during Sehr and Iftar times.

Rejecting the version of the Pesco officials that only 8 hours loadshedding was carried out, they said the people faced 14 to 16 and 18 hours loadshedding. They warned that if the loadshedding was not controlled they would block the Ring Road and Kohat Road in coming days.

Meanwhile, the residents of Gulberg also held a protest demonstration against the loadshedding and criticised the Pesco officials for subjecting the people to severe torture in the scorching heat.

KARAK: Different organisations have threatened to take to the streets if the prolonged power outages are not done away with.

The power remained suspended to almost entire district from the early morning on Tuesday to evening for more than 15 hours.

Different organisations, including Khattak Ittehad, Karak Welfare Organisation and Grand Qumi Jirga Latamber held a joint meeting and criticised the prolong power suspensions and unscheduled loadshedding.

They recalled that the government had miserably failed to realise its word that no loadshedding would be carried out at Sehr, Iftar and Taraweeh timings. They threatened to besiege the Pesco office if the protracted loadshedding was not ended.

TIMERGARA: The residents of Malakand Payeen and Bala on Tuesday blocked the main road in front of the Timergara Press Club in protest against Wapda and government for their failure to supply uninterrupted electricity.

The charged protesters, most of them teenagers, also damaged three cars. Carrying batons and sticks the enraged demonstrators marched on Timergara-Balambat road and chanted slogans against the rulers. Haji Daud Syed, leader of the protesters, alleged they had no electricity during Sehr and Iftar. He said the prime minister and the water and power minister had announced that there would be no loadshedding in Ramazn but they failed to keep their words.

MANSEHRA: Hundreds of people took to streets in Bisian Balakot on Tuesday and blocked Mansehra-Balakot road to protest against suspension of electricity for last many days because of a fault in transformer.

The protesters, who were chanting slogans against government and Pesco, blocked road for more than an hour while setting tyres on fire.

Speaking on the occasion local elders said six days had passed since the electric transformer developed fault but Pesco officials were demanding bribe from the consumers to remove the fault. They said they could not asleep in such hot weather and were also suffering during Sehr and Iftar.

They threatened to block Mansehra-Balakot road for indefinite period if the faulty transformer was not changed within 24 hours.

LAKKI MARWAT: Activists of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf have threatened to block roads and hold protest demonstrations if excessive power outages were not stopped forthwith.

At a meeting held here on Tuesday chaired by senior PTI leader Ahmad Nawaz, the workers came hard on local Pesco officials and accused them of carrying out unscheduled loadshedding in the urban and rural localities.

They said local Pesco authorities had paid no heed to instructions of the federal government not to carry out loadshedding during Sehr, Iftar and Taraveeh timings.

They said 18 hours long electricity loadshedding in Lakki city and rural areas of the district was intolerable. “Despite paying huge and inflated bills people cannot use electricity facility due to excessive loadshedding,” they regretted.