Citizens protest against prolonged power cuts in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Amidst sweltering heat, prolonged power cuts are further accentuating peoples’ woes who have to endure more than 10 hours of daily unannounced load-shedding, badly impacting routine life and businesses in Peshwar and its suburbs.

Residents of Peshawar and suburban areas took to the streets against power cuts for the second day on Thursday as PESCO resorted to announced and unannounced load-shedding amidts gruelling heatwave.

The protesters blocked traffic on University Road for several hours. The protesters said that they deserve uninterrupted electricity when they regularly pay electricity bills.

They said that elederly and children have to bear the brunt of proplonged load-shedding. while water They said that with electricity being out for hours, drinking water also becomes scarce.

The Met Office said that the maximum temperature in Peshawar is likely to go up 40C.

In Lahore, the temperature is likely to go up to 43°C, the Met Office said.

According to Lahore Electricity and Supply Coompany officials, the city was facing two hours of daily power cuts. However, citizens said that the power outage ranged between four to six hours.

According to K-Electric, the city was facing a shortfall of 100 megawatts against the total demand of 2,800 MW.

A spokesperson for K-Electric said that four hours of daily load-shedding was being carried out in Karachi and surrounding areas. The spokesperson said that up to six hours of load-shedding was being carried out in areas where power pilfergae was rampant.

The spokesperson claimed that 75 per cent of residential areas were being supplied uninterrupted electricity.

According to the Met Office, the maximum temparature in Islamabad will remain 42C. The federal capital has also seen a rise in complaints about load-shedding of up to six hours.

The Islamabad Electric Supply Coompany tweeted that “the load on the system has increased due to the intensity of heat and the increase in electricity consumption”.