Elected representatives of various union councils, including women led by district member of Nauthia ward Safdar Baghi on Monday held a protest demonstration against power and gas load shedding and asked federal government to solve the problems.
The demonstrators also set old tyres and copies of utility bills on fire along Sher Shah Soori Road near Peshawar Press Club to record their protest against Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco).
Talking to media persons Safdar said that gas supply to the Nauthia and adjacent localities was suspended during peak morning and evening hours forcing residents to purchase cooked food from bazaar with no other option left with them.
He said price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was also increased exorbitantly and poor people were unable to afford the charges of cylinders. Similarly, firewood was also very costly and in majority of house there was no arrangement for burning firewood as owners were not allowing tenants to burn woods.
"We have time and again contacted officials concerned at SNGPL regional office but they did not take any serious notice of our complaints," Baghi lamented and demanded of the federal government to take notice against the general manager concerned.
Baghi, who is associated with Awami National Party said that power supply was also suspended for hours long without any schedule. He said if necessary action was not taken to improve supply of power the consumers would face serious problems during next summer.
He said electricity was generated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but people of this province were kept deprived of the facility which was very ironic. He asked provincial government to take up these problems with federal government otherwise consumers belonging to various union councils would come to the streets.
Another district member of Tehkal ward Al-Hajj Noor Wali also expressed his concern over prolonged power outages and warned that consumers were ready to block roads if smooth power supply was not ensured. In a statement, he said power supply was kept suspended at least for 18 hours in Tehkal areas despite the fact that people were paying monthly bills regularly.