Residents in Nowshera, Mansehra protest power cuts

NOWSHERA/ MANSEHRA: The residents in Nowshera and Mansehra staged protests against prolonged electricity loadshedding on Tuesday.

In Nowshera, the residents of Khattak Killay, Amangarh and other villages staged a protest outside the camp office of the deputy commissioner against the unannounced loadshedding.Chanting slogans against the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), the protesters also staged a protest sit-in outside the camp office of the deputy commissioner. Chanting slogans against the government for failing to provide relief to the consumers in the face of sizzling heat, the protesters said that they were facing power cuts for 22 hours on a daily basis, which was sheer injustice. They said that the Pesco officials did not bother to implement the orders of the chief minister and were conducting loadshedding at their will. They said that loadshedding and inflated electricity bills had made life miserable for them.

The protesters said that the government had raised the power tariff but was not supplying electricity to the people despite sweltering heat. They said that they would stage a protest outside the Pesco offices if the duration of the loadshedding was not reduced.

Meanwhile, the angry residents took to the streets in different parts of the Mansehra district seeking an immediate end to the prolonged power outages and withdrawal of inflated electricity bills.

Rallies were held in Lassan Nawab and Oghi areas in the district demanding an immediate end to prolonged power outages and withdrawal of inflated electricity utility billsThe participants of the rally in Lassan Nawab marched through different bazaars and assembled at the central point.

They raised slogans against Peshawar Electric Supply Company, and in support of their demands.The speakers demanded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif take notice of prolonged power outages.

“We have been experiencing over 14 hours loadshedding every day but even then the Pesco dispatches unbearable power utility bills,” a protester said.The protesters hailing from Karori, Jandi Seir, Haryala and neighbouring villages and localities also marched on roads in Oghi and demanded an immediate end to loadshedding.