Power & gas load-shedding: People suffer as protesters block Indus Highway

PESHAWAR: Hundreds of villagers on Monday blocked the main Kohat Road to protest against the interruption in power and gas supply in the area.

Thousands of people travelling to and from the southern districts suffered for several hours as Indus Highway was clocked near Syfan area. The protesters said that power is only supplied to their areas for a couple of hours during the entire day.

They said that villages on both sides of Ring Road and Kohat Road, including Bazidkhel, Badaber, Mahsokhel, Kaga Wala, Garhi Qamardin, Bahader Kilay, and Landi Arbab remain without power and gas for several hours every day.

Heavy contingents of police later arrived at the spot but the people refused to reopen the road. One villager said they were faced with an extreme shortage of water.A jirga was later held at the office of SP Saddar Waqar Ahmad where officials of Pesco and SNGPL as well as MPA Fazal Elahi and other elders turned up.

The officials promised to stop the load-shedding while the elders said they would carry out a drive to install meters in the areas. Some elders said that in the areas where meters are installed, theft is happening only with the support of the Pesco and SNGPL staff.

People of several villages, after the protest, said the Pesco and SNGPL staff were hiding their incompetence by suspending power and gas supply.Villagers of Garhi Qamardin, Bahader Kilay, and Landi Arbab said that despite paying heavy bills, the power supply is suspended at 8 am and restarted at 3 pm while for the remaining day, it is suspended for seven to eight more hours.The locals demanded proper power supply as well as justified bills and also sought action against the power thieves and their facilitators within the department.