Locals block roads, protest against power outages in Pak's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the power outages in the Lower Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.

According to Dawn, the protesters blocked the roads at Shaheed Chowk in Timergara and Khall Bazaar that caused problems for motorists and passengers.

The protesters in Khall blocked the main Timergara-Chitral road to all kinds of traffic for three hours. They chanted slogans against the local lawmakers and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) authorities.

Leaders of the protesters said that a new transmission line was laid in the Khall feeder at the behest of lawmakers that caused trouble to local consumers. They said that they had been without power for the last one week, Dawn reported.

They demanded of the PESCO authorities to separate Rabat feeder from the Khall feeder, otherwise, they would remove it on their own. They said that the PESCO authorities were contacted time and again but to no avail.

Assistant Commissioner, Timergara, Tahir Ali Khattak along with PESCO executive engineer Mujahid Khan and DSP Farooq Jan held talks with the leaders of the protesters and convinced them to disperse peacefully.

The rally in Timergara was addressed by Jamaat-i-Islami district deputy general secretary Hafiz Yaqubur Rahman, former Tehsil Nazim Advocate Imranud Din and others. They said that the electricity tariff was increased while its outage was disturbing routine life.

They demanded of the authorities to take notice of the matter and resolve the grievances of the consumers. They threatened to launch a campaign against the government if unscheduled load-shedding was not ended, Dawn reported.

( With inputs from ANI )