Mansehra residents suffer as Pesco cuts power for 12 hours

MANSEHRA: The residents suffered a lot as the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) suspended power supply for over 12 hours, plunging the city and suburbs into darkness during Sehri on Sunday.

“Most parts of the city and surrounding areas remained without electricity throughout the night. Pesco’s technical staff and linemen, stationed at the complaint centre and grid station failed to repair the reported faults, leaving people helpless,” said Mohammad Waheed, a resident.

The central parts of Mansehra, including Channia, Abbottabad Road, King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, and suburban areas such as Hado Bandi, Safada, and Khushala were among those blacked-out parts.

“People were forced to eat their Sehri in complete darkness. Pesco often cuts power under the guise of technical faults to cover line losses, which is unacceptable to us at any cost,” Waheed added.

He urged the prime minister to take notice of the prolonged and unannounced power outages, especially during Sehr and Iftar, and hold responsible accountable.Another local, Mohammad Siddique, criticised Pesco for its failure to ensure an uninterrupted power supply, despite residents paying hefty electricity bills.

“We spent the entire night in darkness, and even during the day, power was not restored. Pesco officials didn’t bother to address the reported faults if there were any,” he lamented.Siddique pointed out that despite a bill recovery rate of over 99 percent in Mansehra the residents continued to suffer from frequent and prolonged power outages. He said that the prime minister should take notice of the suspension of electricity during the holy month of Ramazan.