Prolonged power outages getting on the nerves of Pindiites

Rawalpindi

Residents of several localities of the cantonment and city areas had to suffer from prolonged hours of power outages, which played on their nerves on Wednesday. 

The heat-stricken people of Adiala Road, Defence Road, Munawar Colony, Lalkurti, Dhoke Juma, Mubarak Lane, Sherzaman Colony, Usama Street, Askari-7, Askari-14, Al-Mumtaz Colony, Tulsa, Dhoke Paracha, Satellite Town, Muslim Town, Saidqabad, Dhoke Kala Khan, Shamsabad and several other areas strongly protested against Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) authorities for not providing them electricity in hot and humid weather during the holy month of Ramazan.

The residents of affected localities also complained of provision of low-voltage, which did not let air-conditioners, air-coolers and refrigerators to work properly. 

The residents of Gulistan Colony and Rawat also protested against Iesco authorities for not providing them light.  The angry public of affected localities went to complaint office of Adiala Sub Division late Tuesday night and raised slogans against Iesco authorities. The concerned staff of complaint office in the state of fear tried to cool down their temper claiming there was a fault in main grid station. 

It merits mentioning here that Federal Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali has s directed Iesco and other power companies across the country to observe only 4 hours loadshedding in the holy month of Ramazan. But, Iesco is routinely observing over 10-hour loadshedding in cover of different lame excuses in several localities.

Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (Iesco) Executive Engineer (Rawalpindi) Muhammad Kashif Shah claimed that several transformers went out of order due to extreme hot weather. He said that hot and humid weather was unbearable therefore, people of several areas were facing difficulties. “We are trying to follow the directions of federal minister but hot and humid weather is not allowing us to do so,” he claimed. 

A key post officer of Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (Iesco) on condition of anonymity said that they were helpless before the orders of government. “Government is not providing us good equipments to resolve main faults in transmission lines or in main grid stations. 

Talking to ‘The News’ people belonging of affected localities appealed to the government to take action against Iesco authorities for not following the loadshedding schedule in the holy month of Ramazan.

Tariq Mehmood Butt, a resident of Defence Road said that they were facing record loadshedding in the holy month of Ramazan, this year. “Government is only giving orders but not monitoring the situation which allows Iesco to take full benefit of the situation,” he added. He said that they were spending sleepless nights because of long hours of power outages for some days.