Traders in Oghi seek end to power outages

MANSEHRA: The traders in Oghi on Tuesday called on the Hazara Electric Supply Company (HESCO) to end daylong power outages carried out under the pretext of maintenance and trimming tree branches along transmission lines.

“We have been facing daylong power outages on alternative days, which are severely affecting our business activities,” Ijaz Ahmad, a traders’ leader, told a press conference in Oghi.Accompanied by a group of traders, he said that the domestic and commercial consumers were already burdened by routine load-shedding, and the additional daylong outages have completely disrupted their livelihoods.

“Hazara Electric Supply Company suspends electricity for an entire day every other day, citing technical faults on transmission lines and grid stations. We will no longer tolerate such excuses,” he added.He added that traders were already confronting the impacts of inflation, and the continuous suspension of electricity has been pushing their businesses to the brink of collapse.