Electricity outages at Adiala Road draw flak from residents

Rawalpindi : The residents of Adiala Road facing loadshedding of over 10-hours in day and night have strongly protested against Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) here on Saturday. The residents of Adiala Road, Munawar Colony, Defense Road, Saleha Street, Sher Zaman Colony, Usama Street, Dhoke Juma, Al-Mumtaz Colony, Mubarak Lane, Kalyal, Gorakh Pure, Askari-7, Askari-14, Tulsa, Madina Town, Samarzar, Jarahi, Kalyal and several other localities came out on roads to mark their protest against Iesco.

The affected residents not only facing over 10-hours loadshedding but are also facing acute water shortage in scorching weather. There was no water in all filtration plants because of absence of light. The residents are also not getting water through 'tanker mafia' due to power outages.

The angry protesters appeared on main Adiala Road after midnight raising slogans and pelted stones over complaint centre of Adiala Sub Division. They demanded of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa to take notice against Iesco officials they were targeting Adiala Sub Division for over a month. There was no loadshedding anywhere in Rawalpindi and Islamabad but people of Adiala Road were facing over 10-hours loadshedding in this harsh weather for a month, the protesters said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has strictly directed to provide electricity round the clock to all areas but Iesco in the name of maintenance work openly violating the directions of PM and observing over 10-hours loadshedding for a month. They demanded of Prime Minister to remove Iesco chief immediately otherwise they will block all major roads in city and cantonment.

Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) Chief Chaudhry Muhammad Shahid told 'The News' that they were busy in maintenance work on Adiala Road therefore consumers were facing long hours of loadshedding. “We are setting up three new towers of 132 KV transmission line. We are working on Chakwal circuit 1 and 2,” he said. Therefore residents of Adiala Road are facing long hours of loadshedding, he claimed.

The residents of affected localities are facing loadshedding from 6:00 am to 7:00 am, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, 2:00 am to 4:00 am. While residents are facing shutdown in alternative days from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.