News
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
No let up in power riots
* Protesters take to street in several cities of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh
* Demonstrators clash with police in Gujranwala
* WAPDA office set ablaze in Charsadda
ISLAMABAD: Protesters upset over severe electricity shortages clashed with police for a second day on Tuesday, as the country’s main opposition leader used the issue to pressure the US-allied government.
Parts of Pakistan face power cuts of up to 18 hours per day, undermining the country’s weak economy and increasing hardship for citizens already facing a rampant Taliban insurgency. Anger periodically boils over into violent protests.
Demonstrators threw stones at police on Tuesday in Gujranwala. Local television footage showed the police throwing some of the rocks back, lobbing tear gas, and charging the crowd with their batons.
Angry mobs had burned six electricity company offices on Monday, said Gujranwala police chief Ahsan Tufail.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA at least 14 hours of load shedding is observed, leading to water shortage in several areas. An angry mob set ablaze the WAPDA office in Charsadda. A shutter down strike was also observed in Peshawar where the citizens burned tyres and blocked roads against the power cut for long hours.
Rice mills in Jafferabad and Naseerabad districts of Balochistan were shut due to unavailability of electricity.
Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Kotri and many small cities of Sindh are without electricity. Protests also broke out in Malir and Khokrapar areas against load shedding in Karachi.
Meanwhile, violent protests against long hours of power cut entered second day on Tuesday in different cities of Punjab but load shedding continues.
Shutter down strikes were observed in Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujrat and other cities and towns of the province on Tuesday with protest demonstrations in different areas.
The victims of 15 to 18 hours load shedding in Karachi also took to streets and chanted slogans against the KESC and the government, which had failed to provide them electricity. The traders also threatened not to pay their bills if the power shutdown continued. Multan, Jhang, Chiniot, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Sargodha and Vehari are experiencing 12 to 16 hours of outages. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk