Wahdat Colony residents protest against week-long power cut

hyderabad: Residents of Hyderabad’s old Wahdat Colony started a protest against Hesco at 11am on Saturday at Guddu Chowk in protest against the power supply suspension that began a week ago.

The protestors burnt tires on the road and shouted slogans against Hesco. During the protest, there was a scuffle between the protesters and motorcyclists for demanding a way.

The protestors said that the electricity bills are submitted by the residents of the colony in instalments every month, but after every week, Qasimabad Hesco staff disconnected the power supply from the transformer.

They said that due to lack of electricity for seven days, daily life had been badly affected, and drinking water crisis had also arisen.

Due to the protest, Qasimabad-bound vehicles got stuck in an –hours-long traffic jam on the busiest artery of the town, Autobahn Road. The protest continued for several hours.

Later, the police reached the spot and negotiated with the protesters, but the protesters refused to disperse until the supply of electricity was restored. At this, police officers contacted the relevant officers of Hesco and told them about the problems due to the protest, including the traffic jam. The officers reached the Guddu Chowk and directed the protesters to present the copies of the electricity bills submitted and assured them of the restoration of the power supply if the bills were submitted.

The Hesco spokesperson said that according to a departmental report, there are 793 connections in Qasimabad, which the consumers are defaulters of Rs168.5 million. There were 408 connections on 33 (50) KV transformers of Wahdat Colony with arrears of Rs8.75 million, he added.