The city echoed with protests against extended load shedding as people came out on the roads in protest and clashed with the police, on Sunday.
Besides Lahore, people in other cities of Punjab protested against the government on its failure to provide electricity, as load shedding lasted for 18 hours. The power shortfall reached 7,000MW, as production from hydel generation declined, while production from Tarbela and Mangla dams dropped around 950MW.
In Lahore, protests were staged in Chung, Gari Shahu, Lakshami, Azadi Chowk, Iqbal Town, Township, Wahdat Road and other areas of the city, while protestors blocked the Lahore Ring Road. Police had a field day and managed to control the protestors in many places with the use of excessive force, while protestors opened fire on police and also set a police van on fire.
The residents of Chung gathered near the police station at midday and staged a demonstration against the long hours of unscheduled load shedding. The protestors said electricity supply had been suspended since Saturday night, while officials at the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) were neither attending the telephone, nor informing them when the power supply would be restored. Protesters burnt tyres on Multan Road and attacked the Chung Police Station. The protestors uprooted sign boards at the police station and also set the gate on fire. In the meantime, protestors stopped buses and trucks on the road and pelted them with stones, breaking the vehicles’ windscreens and windowpanes. Police reached the spot and baton-charged the protestors. However, after failing to control the mob, police used tear gas on the protestors, who dispersed after a brutal show of force from the police. As many as 12 people were arrested and cases were registered against hundreds of unknown protestors. Senior officials reached the spot and managed to bring the situation under control.
In another protest on Lahore Ring Road near Mehmood Booti, protestors blocked the road and traffic remained jammed for hours. In protests in Azadi Chowk, Gari Shahu, Lakshmi and other areas, protestors burnt tyres and chanted slogans against the government. They said the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) had started suspending electricity supply for more than 18 hours a day, making their lives unbearable. “Our electricity has been suspended for the last 12 hours,” said a protestor at Mehmood Booti.
In another incident, infuriated people attacked different wards of Jinnah Hospital due to prolonged hours of load shedding. Patients and their attendants said they could not get test reports and it had become hard for them to cope with the long outages. “My son is seriously ill and I could not get his blood report due to closure of machines by the hospital administration,” said a middle aged person.
The administration of the hospital said they were helpless in the face of such extended load shedding, as LESCO had suspended electricity supply. They said the hospital had connections from three different grid stations, but no grid station was working.
Meanwhile, according to PEPCO, the shortfall had reached 6,976MW with generation remaining at 9,878MW and demand surging to 16,854MW. Hydel generation on Friday was 5,242MW but it dropped and remained at 4,359MW on Saturday. Power production from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) also decreased and remained at 4,109MW. Sources in PEPCO said power generation on Sunday dropped even further and the shortfall exceeded 7,500MW, thus resulting in suspension of electricity supply for an indefinite time. Reportedly, Pakistan State Oil has suspended oil supplies to the government and private power companies because of non-payment of bills.
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