Prolonged power outages perturb Pindiites

Rawalpindi : The consumers have literally failed to understand why they are facing prolonged power cuts in the name of loadshedding or maintenance work. The government has directed to stop issuance of ‘permits’ for maintenance work but Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) as per routine is observing prolonged power blackouts in all areas of the city for around 8 to 10-hours on alternative days.

Some two days back during rain, consumers of many areas including Adiala Road, Bakramandi, Defence Road, Saleha Street, Munawar Colony, New Lalazar, Gulistan Colony, Jhanda Chichi, Pirwadhai, etc. faced prolonged power blackouts due to technical faults. The residents of Adiala Road, Defence Road, and Saleha Street faced prolonged power cuts for around 43-hours due to some technical faults.

Reportedly, some two days back, around 23 transformers were burnt during rainfall followed by windstorms here in different areas of the city.

The residents of Adiala Road, New Lalazar, Defence Road, Dhoke Juma, Tulsa Road, Tariqabad, Dhamial, Bakramandi, Sher Zaman Colony, Al-Mumtaz Colony, Hill View Lane, Kalyal, Gulshanabad, Askari-7, Askari-14, Morgah, Tahli Morri, and several other areas protested against prolonged power cuts by Iesco. They also faced water shortage due to a prolonged power blackout of 8 to t0 10-hours here on Saturday as well.

Despite the claims of Iesco that it is not carrying out loadshedding, the residents of the city and cantonment board are continuously suffering from frequent power outages.

Iesco spokesman Raja Asim Nazir, Executive Engineer (XEN) Muhammad Saeed Makhdoom, and even Chief Executive Officer (CEO) assured ‘The News’ to stop maintenance work by the end of December 2021. But, maintenance work still continues in February 2022.

The power cuts, on the other hand, have also affected people’s daily routine in the city as well. The residents of many areas of Rawalpindi, especially downtown, face power cuts for hours.

Rawalpindi Traders Association President Sharjeel Mir said that the traders of the city areas faced problems due to frequent power cuts. “We are facing prolonged power blackouts in winter season so we wonder what would happen in summer,” he asked.

Cantonment Traders Association General Secretary Zafar Qadri strongly condemned prolonged power cuts in the name of maintenance work. The frequent power blackouts have destroyed our businesses, he denounced.

Talking to ‘The News’, people belonging to different walks of life asked what kind of maintenance work Iesco was doing. The maintenance work has been continuing since September 2021. Despite maintenance work, the consumers of several areas are facing major faults in power supply and facing over 40-hours power blackouts, particularly during rains.

Muhammad Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Saleha Street said that some two days back, we faced a power blackout of 43-hours due to some technical faults in the power supply. What kind of maintenance work Iesco is doing, they should provide us a smooth supply of electricity after maintenance work but we are facing low voltages, prolonged power cuts, and tripping as per routine, he said.

Nadia Mumtaz, Faheem Ahmed, Shazia Rasool, Hina Nouman, Khawaja Muhammad Basharat, and several others also condemned Iesco for failing to provide them with a smooth electricity supply system. It seems that we are facing loadsheding in the name of maintenance work, they strongly condemned.