Protest staged against power outages in Waziristan

MIRANSHAH: The tribal people staged a protest demonstration at the Sarbandi area in Miranshah on Monday against the hours-long electricity loadshedding.

The protest was staged following a grand jirga of elders on Thursday last in which the participants had warned Wapda and Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) against excessive power outages in the tribal district. A large number of tribal elders, youth, traders and local government representatives participated in the protest rally.

The protesters asked the Wapda and Tesco to enhance the duration of the power supply or else they would continue their protest for an indefinite period.They also threatened to uproot the electricity installations and expel the staff from the tribal district. Prominent elders from Dawar and Wazir called for enhancing the power supply duration from two hours to six hours in 24 hours immediately.

They warned of removing power pylons and wires and locking the offices of Wapda and Tesco in the entire North Waziristan tribal district if their demand was not met.The elders also threatened to suspend the supply of electricity to the gridstation by throwing an iron chain on the high transmission line and blocking the Pak-Afghan border point for trade activities. They alleged that the power company was doing an injustice to the people of North Waziristan by subjecting them to hours-long electricity loadshedding.The residents, they added, now had no other option but to expel the staff and uproot the installations of Wapda and Tesco.