With riots entering fourth day, two people were killed and many injured in the riots against power outages in the city on Monday. Traders and businessmen also issued a 48-hour to ultimatum, after which they said they would start violent protests. Cities and villages witnessed more than 16 and 22 hours of unannounced outages.
No respite is expected from outages in the near future since the water level in the dams has also fallen and the government has not been able to reach an agreement with the IPPs.
Life in Lahore came to a standstill as people flooded the roads with sticks, stones and banners and chanted slogans against the government.
Protests in Shalimar and Darogawala area got violent after workers at a petrol pump refused to shut it down despite being repeatedly asked by the protesters. The security guard of the pump opened fire at the protesters due to which a protester sustained injuries and died on the spot while other received injuries.
The mob then got violent and set the pump on fire. Angry citizens robbed the cash-and-carry store of the pump and set it on fire after thrashing everything. The police tried to stop the protesters and tear-gased them, completely inconsiderate of the little children who were also present on the occasion.
The relatives of the dead protester also staged a demonstration, which was joined by other people also. The family demanded that an action be taken against the guard, who managed to escape from the scene.
In another incident at Shah Alam Market, a citizen, Imran Haider was in an elevator when electricity was shut down. He sustained injuries in his attempt to escape and died, hanging from the roof of the elevator.
The traders of Shah Alam Market placed the dead body on the road and said they would create havoc if the responsible were not brought to justice. PEPCO sources have said power shortfall remained more than 6,500MW. The hydel generation remained 2,300MW while thermal generation stood at 6,100 thus total production remained at 8,400MW while demand surged to 15,000MW. “There is a grim chance that the situation would improve, as hydel generation is very low,” said a senior official adding if oil and gas supplies to power houses were increased then there was a chance of little respite otherwise the situation would remain the same. Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) also gave 48 hours ultimatum to government to end the outages otherwise a series of protests would be launched and the government would be responsible for the consequences.
LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said protests would continue unless and until the government addressed the burning issue. He said all the Punjab Chambers, Trade and Industrial associations had approached the LCCI to evolve a consensus and finalise a strategy to launch nationwide agitation campaign.
“The government would not be in a position to control the situation triggered by the demonstrations by the angry industrial workers against their retrenchments as a result of these power outages,” he said, adding that it would not be possible for the government to maintain its writ. He said most of industrial units had already reduced their working to single six-hour shift from the previous three shifts system. This had led to increased level of raw-material wastage leaving production process non-profitable.
Business leaders from a number of trade and industrial associations, including Lahore Township Industrial Association, Ferozepur Road Industrial Association, Katarbund Road Industrial Association, Kahna Kacha Industrial Association, Anjuman-e-Tajiran Pakistan, Qoumi Tajir Ittehad, Anjuman-e-Tajran Badami Bagh Auto Market, Township Traders Association, Pakistan Auto Parts Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Anjuman-e-Tajran Urdu Bazar, Brandreth Road Traders Association Monday contacted LCCI President and assured their full support over the energy situation.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif also assured the traders that his party would take part in the strike too. He said the time for a long march had come and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would strike with the traders after they formulate a plan.
