Loadshedding in extreme led protestors to rally outside the Rehman Baba grid station in Peshawar. The demonstration was led by PTI MPA Fazl Elahi. He announced end of the rally following negotiations with Assistant Commissioner Haroon Saleem and XEN Alam Zeb proving successful.
The protests were not violent and solely to advocate for better conditions especially amid heatwaves and severely high temperatures. However, in order to calm down the high-spirited protestors, police arrived at the scene. They tried to disperse the group who responded by threatening to enter the station themselves. The protestors voiced discontent over facing 16+ hours of loadshedding on an everyday basis in peak summer heat. Another reason for this crowd gathering was that they faced a power outage of 20 consecutive hours the previous day.
Fazl Elahi stated, “We will continue to protest outside the grid station unless the power is restored.” To warn the police from exercising coercion, he further added, “If the matter is not resolved here, we will shut down Sheikh Muhammadi Grid station”. He went so far as to say, “We will close the power there and cut off the electricity supply to the whole area.” given that the protestors’ demands are not met.
Nonetheless, before the situation escalated , his discussions with Assistant commissioner yielded their positive outcomes. In the result of these negotiations the demonstrators were promised that loadshedding would not exceed 10 hours per day. The feeders in the area would be supplied with adequate power. In another attempt to reduce the power shortage, Fazl Elahi held talks with the Peshawar Electric Supply Company(PESCO). He discussed the actions and measures to take against power theft.
