No let up in Punjab power riots

Protests against massive load shedding continued across the province for the fifth day running, as an angry mob torched LESCO’s regional office in the Ichhra area of Lahore on Tuesday. Massive protests were staged in Lahore, Gujranwala and Faisalabad over prolonged power load shedding on Tuesday as well. Despite tall claims by the minister for power, PEPCO and LESCO of improvement in situation, outages remained almost per routine. LESCO suffered a loss of hundreds of thousands of rupees due to the arson by the protesters, with officials estimating losses of at least Rs 1 million. Traders of Ichhra and Ferozepur Road were carrying out a peaceful protest but things got out of control when people surrounded the LESCO office and pelted stones at it.
The officials present in the office escaped, leaving the protesters to ransack the office. “The damage of property and equipment is huge and could be more than Rs one million,” said an official of the company, adding that LESCO was only a distribution company and had nothing to do with load shedding. In another protest in Shahdara, protesters blocked the main road, blocking the traffic coming into and leaving the city for hours. Annoyed demonstrators also blocked roads by burning tyres at Laxmi Chowk and Baghbanpura. They said there was no relief from electricity load shedding despite the rising cost of electricity, vowing to continue protests until a positive step was taken to deal with the energy woes. In Faisalabad a complete shutter down strike was observed against prolonged hours of power load shedding.
Citizens and industrial workers staged protest demonstrations for the fourth consecutive day, while a complete shutter-down strike was observed in the city on a call given by trade and labour unions. Protestors were of the view that they were facing load shedding of more than 18 hours and the situation had multiplied their suffering, leaving them with no opportunity to earn a living. On the other hand, PEPCO officials claimed that load shedding had been reduced due to a decrease in the shortfall. It said the company was facing a 4,500MW shortfall, compared to a deficit of 5,500MW on Sunday. Reports said that PEPCO had started receiving fuel for power generation and the closed plants were returning to life. The PEPCO DG said the utility was getting fuel and 2,000MW of electricity would soon be added to the grid. The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has been paid Rs 20 billion and the issue of outstanding Rs 150 billion would be settled soon, he said.