By Rafiullah Mandokhail
ZHOB: A large number of vexing residents of Mandokhail belt connected with Rural and Express feeders losing their patience, gathered in front-of the grid station and staged a protest demonstration against prolonged power suspension and low voltage in their respective areas here on Monday. The protesters later on blocked Zhob-D.I Khan highway at Kaliwal Shaheed chowk for several hours by setting tyres ablaze. They chanted slogans against the provincial government, Chairman QESCO, Chief QESCO, SE and XEN Zhob Division. Addressing the protesters, Jamal Mandokhail, Dawood Khan Mandokhail, Shafiq Mandokhail, Samad Khan Mandokhail, Suhbat Mandokhail, Sajjid Imran Bangash and Baran Kaliwal said that Quetta Electric Supply Company (KESCO) was deliberately subjecting the people in rural parts of the district to several hours of power break-down to provoke them to protest. They said, the rural parts of the district receive only one hour electricity with low voltage in 24 hours for the last ten days. Life in the rural areas has been paralyzed due to the excessive load-shedding.
“The protest will continue until the power of the Express and Rural feeders is completely restored,” they warned.
They said, the consumers are constantly paying their electricity bills, but due to the apathy of incompetent authorities, the electricity is not being provided to rural areas. They complained that they had moved several requests, but no action has been taken to rectify the situation. They demanded of the authorities concerned to take some immediate measures to resolve the problem. If the situation remained the same, their line of action would be more severe. They warned.
Meanwhile, the protest ended following a written agreement with the QESCO officials. According to the agreement, all the consumers will pay Rs 3,000 each and disconnect all direct power connections. Electricity of Express and Rural feeders has been restored for six hours.
