Pakistan: Locals in Peshawar protest long power cuts, poor roads

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Locals at Chitral in Peshawar protested against power outages and dilapidated conditions of roads in their district on Sunday, the Dawn reported, adding that the protesters claimed that the government had not paid attention to their demands.

The protesters should slogans against the regime, the report said, adding that the protests were organised by Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Haqooq Chitral (TTHC).

The report further said, quoting locals, that the residents also came down heavily on the officials of the provincial government for not taking action against those involved in illegal mining in their district.

The protesters said both Upper and Lower Chitral districts have been grappling with poor road conditions and load-shedding, but the government turned a blind eye to their plight, the report claimed.

According to the Dawn report, the protestors warned that if the problems were not resolved by the government, they would march to Islamabad.

A major power outage in Pakistan around 7.34 am on Monday left many cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Islamabad, without electricity.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy in a statement said the frequency of the national grid went down at 7.34 am, causing a ‘widespread breakdown’ in the power system. It further said the restoration of grid stations has been started from Warsak.

The Ministry of Energy tweeted, “According to initial reports, the system frequency of the National Grid went down at 7:34 this morning, causing a widespread breakdown in the power system. System maintenance work is progressing rapidly”.

The power outage occurred after a technical fault was reported in the transmission line from Guddu to Quetta, causing the reduction of the power frequency from the optimum level. (ANI)