SWABI: Protesters forced their way into the offices of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) here on Monday against excessive power cuts.
The call for protest was given by the Swabi Action Committee. People from all over the district attended the protest.
They complained that the residents of various areas in Swabi had been without power supply since two pylons were damaged by a windstorm lately.
The activists of Pakistan Peoples Party, Qaumi Watan Party, Awami National Party and Jamaat-i-Islami participated in the protest.
The protesters were led by Salim Khan, former provincial general secretary of ANP, Masood Jabbar, former provincial deputy general secretary of QWP and Mohammad Rashid, former chairman of the safety commission.
Sources claimed that it was decided in a late-night meeting that force wouldn’t be used against protesters. Pesco officials closed their offices and ensured safety of the vital documents and didn’t offer resistance to protesters.
The residents gathered at the district headquarters and marched to Karnal Sher Khan Chowk, where they blocked roads. Later, they moved to Pesco offices on the Swabi-Jehangira Road shouting slogans against the provincial government and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s leaders.
When the protesters reached the Pesco offices, they found the gate closed.
The cops and Pesco security personnel did not open the gate but the people broke open the gate by force and made their way into the premises.
They went straight to the office of the superintendent engineer and challenged him to come out. The protesters staged a sit-in there.
The protesters said that they had been facing prolonged electricity loadshedding amid rising temperatures.
Addressing protesters, Salim Khan said that people of the district rendered sacrifices for the construction of Tarbela Dam, but they still faced excessive power cuts.
“We were forced to stage the protest because the Pesco officials are responsible for this mess,” he said.
Masood Jabbar said that all police stations in the district used air-conditioners without paying the bill while the ordinary consumers were made to suffer in the sizzling heat.
The protesters stayed put at the Pesco premises and vowed not to budge until electricity was restored.
The Pesco officials, however, told the protesters that they were working to restore the power supply, which was suspended after the pylons were damaged in the recent windstorm.
Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2026