Prolonged power outages cripple businesses in Shangla

ALPURI: Prolonged and frequent power outages have severely impacted businesses and daily life in Shangla’s district headquarters, Alpuri and its surrounding areas.

The local traders said that the electricity-dependent businesses have come to a halt, with many machines rendered non-functional due to the erratic power supply.

They said that they have been staging protests, expressing their frustration over the worsening electricity situation, which they say has persisted for over a year. “There is supposed to be a scheduled one-hour outage every hour, in reality, power is often cut for three to four hours at a stretch, causing major disruptions,” said a trader.

Traders in Alpuri recalled that last year, they cooperated with authorities during an entire day’s blackout to facilitate the installation of a new power line from the grid station. They said that they were assured that once completed, Alpuri would have a dedicated feeder and reduced load-shedding. However, due to political interference, they said, the new feeder was extended to neighboring areas as well - some of which have poor electricity bill payment records. This decision, the traders argued, has led to those who pay their bills regularly suffering the consequences of others’ non-compliance.

They have demanded that the new power line be restricted solely to Alpuri’s commercial market, government offices, colleges, hospitals, and the university to ensure uninterrupted electricity for essential services and businesses.

Government and private offices in Alpuri have also been significantly affected, creating problems for the people who travel from remote parts of the district to access essential services. The elders of the area said that Shangla was producing 72 megawatts of electricity from the Khan Khwar Dam and it required only around 7 megawatts to meet local demand. Despite this, they said, the district was facing unbearable levels of loadshedding, leaving residents, especially traders and visitors to government offices, in great distress.