PESHAWAR: People took to the streets in different areas of the city against unannounced loadshedding on Wednesday.
Protest demonstrations were held in Garhi Khana, Mohala Muhtasiban, Shah Masoom, Ganj and other adjacent areas of the old city and link roads were blocked.
The protesters were chanting slogans against the government and the Peshawar Electric Supply Company for failing to ensure smooth supply of electricity.
They said electricity was supplied to their areas only for a few hours in a day.
They said during the past some days the temperature had reached 40 degree Celsius and a majority of the people were living in small houses, who could not stay in their homes during power breakdowns.
A Pesco spokesman, when contacted, told Dawn that official loadshedding time was from six to eight hours, but ‘forced loadshedding’ was also observed from Islamabad, which was from two to three hours.
He said it was a compulsion of the company because the system could not bear the load continuously.
He said Pesco planned to erect two pylons carrying 500KV Tarbela-Peshawar transmission line, which would increase the duration of loadshedding to 12 hours, from 7am to 7pm, on July 9, 10 and 11.
Our Charsadda Correspondent adds: A protest procession was taken out in a local bazaar under the banner of the Muttahida Shopkeepers Federation and the Mardan-Peshawar road was blocked in protest against loadshedding.
The protesters staged a sit-in outside the office of the Pesco executive engineer and chanted slogans against high-ups of the company.
They said excessive power breakdowns had badly affected business activities and they were unable even to open shops in such a situation when electricity remained suspended for most of the time.
The speakers announced to hold a meeting at Farooq Azam Chowk to devise a strategy against Pesco, saying if smooth power supply was not ensured the shopkeepers would be compelled to stage demonstrations daily.
Protest demonstrations against loadshedding were also held in Tangi, Utmanzai, Sherpao and Umerzai areas.
The protesters said the worst affected were internally displaced persons who were residing in camps.
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