KHAIRPUR, Feb 22: Hundreds of people on Saturday staged a demonstration by blocking the Gambat-Kulab Jial road for several hours to protest against the suspension of power supply to over 500 villages.

The power supply to villages around Gambat, Kulab Jial, Rapri and Baharo was suspended three days ago after a fault developed in a transformer of the 10/13-MVA 132-KV subdivision headquarters Gambat grid station.

Hesco officials, the people said, had assured that the power supply would soon be restored.

On Saturday, the executive engineer of the Rohri Grid Station, Mushtaque Ahmed, inspected the Gambat grid station and found that four feeders had been affected by the damage to the 132-KV transformer.

A single feeder was supplying electricity to about 200 villages in the Gambat and Kingri talukas while power supply to over 500 villages remained suspended for the past three days.

Knowledgeable sources told Dawn that the damage had occurred because of the negligence of local technical staff.

They said that the damaged parts were only available in Lahore and it would take anywhere between 15 and 30 days for the restoration of the power supply.

Meanwhile, Hesco’s operation division was trying to meet the power supply requirements of some important places.