Power outages worsened across the country on Wednesday after an alarming increase in line fault complaints and as power shortfall touched 6,000 megawatts. The closure of KESC customer service centres wreaked further havoc as irate residents and businessmen alike took to the streets to protest against the prolonged power outages. In some areas, unidentified people set fire to sub-stations of the KESC and cut electric wires.
In Peshawar, University of Peshawar students protested violently against the unscheduled power outages and damaged property. In Sukkur, a similar protest by citizens caused damage to public property as well. In Hazro, unscheduled load shedding paralysed daily life and shut down local industries, robbing labourers of their daily wages.
Meanwhile, 12 to 14 hours of no power left residents of Lahore facing fierce temperatures without electricity. In and around Rawalpindi, the duration of load shedding increased to 8 to 10 hours in urban areas and up to 14 hours in rural areas.
