GUJAR KHAN, July 7: The local police have registered two separate cases against over 40 people including leaders of both the ruling party and the opposition for attacking and damaging Iesco offices during Thursday’s protests against loadshedding.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Raja Taifoor Akhtar said a large number of people were involved in looting and setting Iesco offices on fire.
The political leaders booked include JI leader Raja Mohammad Jawad, Syed Nadeem Abbas Bokhari of the PML, Raja Imran Kami of PPP’s youth wing and Raja Shaukat Ayaz..
Meanwhile, on Friday the police remained on high alert in Gujar Khan city.
Superintendent of Police (rural) Inayatullah Farooqi supervised the police operations. A flag march was also held to avert any further rioting incidents in the town.
Senior police officials including DPO Rawalpindi Syed Saud Aziz remained in contact with the higher authorities of Iesco and Wapda, and no loadshedding or power outage occurred in Gujar Khan city.
However, the situation in adjoining villages and towns of Gujar Khan tehsil was different and there was no letup in loadshedding.
IESCO CHIEF: Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) chief executive Brig Shahbaz Azam said loadshedding had become inevitable under the current circumstances.
He was talking to reporters here on Friday after inspecting the company offices attacked by highly charged mob on Thursday evening. The Iesco chief said the country was witnessing a wide gap in demand and supply of electricity, therefore, the consumers should cut down power consumption to improve the situation.
Explaining the causes of loadshedding, he said the 220kv Rawat grid station was overloaded as it was supplying 1,200MW electricity to Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Chakwal, Jhelum and Gujar Khan areas.
Due to 26 per cent surge in power consumption since May 2005, the grid station has been overloaded and its equipment gets heated when power consumption surpasses its capacity. As a result it needs to be shut down for two hours, he added.
Brig Azam said there was an urgent need for at least one grid station in the area, adding that more grid stations would be required in next couple of years.
He said Rs2.5 billion bank loan had been arranged to revamp and upgrade the grid station and transmission lines network. He hoped that another grid station would be set up by September.
He said Iesco was under immense pressure from the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) to ensure 400MW loadshedding, but the company had refused the demand and only 100-125MW loadshedding was being implemented.
Our Correspondent from Chakwal Adds: MMA Chakwal chapter took out a procession on Friday to protest against unscheduled loadshedding and power breakdowns in the district.
The protesters carrying banners and placards chanted slogans against the Water and Power Development Authority.
The procession started from Darul Uloom Hanfia and later converted into a big public gathering at Bhoun Chowk.
Speaking to the occasion, the local MMA leaders warned Wapda that if the electricity problem was not redressed in a week, they would stage sit-ins outside Wapda offices throughout the district.
Heavy contingent of police was deployed at the site, however, after the speeches the protesters dispersed peacefully.
Our Correspondent from Attock Adds: Unscheduled load-shedding, frequent power breakdowns and fluctuation have become a routine in most of the urban and rural areas of the district, particularly Fatehjang and Hazro, for the last many days, causing great inconvenience to the consumers.
The situation has adversely affected routine business and domestic activities. Many residents of Fatehjang and Hazro have complained that they have been facing frequent outages for long hours for last three days. This is causing great hardships to the residents, particularly children, elderly people, students and patients at the hospitals.