Amid prolonged loadshedding, people took to the street and got into Rehman Baba Grid Station in Peshawar to restore electricity, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
A member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly belonging to PTI-led a protest against power outages in Peshawar, forcing the grid station officials to restore electricity.
According to a spokesperson for Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), MPA Fazal Elahi and a group of protesters surrounded the Rehman Baba Grid Station.
The protesters, accompanied by Elahi, forcibly entered the station and switched on nine feeders, which are considered high-loss feeders due to extensive electricity theft and unpaid bills.
"The feeders activated include those in Hazarkhwani, Yakatoot, Akhunabad, New Chamakani, Surizai Bala, Shalozan, and Qalandarabad," the Pesco spokesperson said.
"These feeders have losses exceeding 80 percent because of electricity theft and non-payment of dues," Pesco spokesman said.
Following negotiations between Elahi and Pesco officials, an agreement was reached, resulting in the resumption of power supply to Hazarkhwani and other affected areas from the Rehman Baba Grid Station. It was agreed that loadshedding would not exceed 10 hours.
During the talks, Elahi assured his cooperation in eliminating the illegal 'kunda' system, which involves unauthorised connections to the power grid. Subsequently, he called off the protest, and the demonstrators dispersed.
Meanwhile, the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) has sought a first information report (FIR) against PTI MPA Fazal Elahi after he allegedly led protesters inside Peshawar’s Rehman Baba Grid Station and forcibly activated feeders.
According to a statement from Pesco officials, Elahi surrounded the grid station with the protesters and later entered it to “forcibly” activate nine feeders considered “high loss feeders” with losses on them due to electricity theft and non-payment of dues over 80 per cent.
It added that a heavy police contingent was also present at the scene. “Operation is going on to reduce the losses on the mentioned feeders by Pesco,” the statement said.
Elahi earlier said while addressing the crowd, “We will continue to protest outside the grid station unless the power is restored.” He further warned that the demonstrators would take control of the grid station if their demands were not met.
“If the matter is not resolved here, we will shut down Sheikh Muhammadi Grid station,” he threatened. “We will close the power there and cut off the electricity supply to the whole area.” The MPA said the protesters were “demanding their rights” and urged PTI workers to “drag their MPAs in front of grid stations”.
The protest came to an end after the demonstrators received assurances that Pesco would reduce prolonged power cuts. Elahi announced the end of the rally after negotiations between the demonstrators, Assistant Commissioner Haroon Saleem and Pesco executive engineer Alam Zeb proved successful.
However, the Pesco executive engineer later submitted a complaint to the Rehman Baba station house officer seeking an FIR against the PTI MPA. The complaint added that the six feeders were kept active from 10am to 1pm which caused a “heavy loss to Pesco as all feeders are sick and defective”.
“It is further added that during the above interval of time, approximately 70,000 units (which comes out to Rs3.64 million loss to Pesco in money) have been consumed as per grid-provided data, which was caused due to unlawful act of above MPA along with his supporters.