PML-N lawmaker demands end to electricity load shedding in KP

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) provincial spokesman and Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Ikhtiar Wali Khan has demanded an end to the unprecedented electricity load-shedding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In an open letter to the Federal Minister for Energy and Power, Ikhtiar Wali said that the consumers in KP, especially in Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi districts, have been facing 16 to 17 hours power outages daily.

He said that sometimes electricity remains cut off for a whole night or day, besides routine load-shedding, putting the consumers in mental torture, especially the aged people, women and children.

Despite repeated complaints to the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), electricity hide-and-seek continues for a long time and in case of faults in transformers, consumers remain without power for several days, he added.

He requested the federal minister to take notice of the worst situation and find a solid solution to the power breakdowns and also arrange standby transformers at sub-divisional level so that consumers in KP could be relieved of the miserable situation.

He said the government should consider the option of waving off the electricity bills for the months of June, July and August as compensation to the consumers for facing hardships due to power outages.

The consumers would have no option other than coming on roads for protests if the hours-long power load-shedding was not stopped and solution to the consumers’ problems regarding smooth electricity supply was not ensured, he added.