Protest staged against power outages in Mohmand

GHALLANAI: The local residents, shopkeepers and traders of Mian Mandi in Halimzai tehsil on Wednesday blocked the Peshawar-Bajaur road for traffic against the hours-long electricity load-shedding in their area.

The residents and traders gathered and staged a protest rally against the unscheduled power cuts. They also blocked the main Peshawar-Bajaur road and chanted slogans against government and electricity supply company.

The protestors said that they were being supplied two to three hours electricity in 24 hours, which cannot meet their needs in this scorching heat. They said that earlier they were supplied 16 hours electricity but the government and power supply company started a step-motherly attitude with the people after the merger of erstwhile Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They said that it was beyond their understanding that why the rulers had changed altogether instead of bringing about a true 'change' in their lives. They said that it was an injustice with the peaceful residents to deprive them of the basic need like electricity in this sizzling summer.

They threatened that they would launch a stronger protest movement if the habitual unscheduled power load-shedding was not halted forthwith. The protestors also demanded Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to take notice of the power crisis in their area and take practical steps for the uninterrupted electricity supply.

Meanwhile, the passengers faced great hardships after the protestors blocked the Peshawar-Bajaur road for traffic. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on both sides of the road and passengers including elderly people, women and children remained stuck up in Mian Mandi due to road blockade against the power load-shedding in the hot weather.