PESHAWAR: Electricity consumers blocked University Road here on Monday to protest prolonged power cuts.
The protest caused long queues of vehicles on the road, inconveniencing commuters in the scorching heat.
The protesters, who belonged to Tehkal, Palosai, Abdara and surrounding localities, chanted slogans against Peshawar Electric Supply Company, saying prolonged and unannounced power outages had made their lives miserable.
They demanded that the federal government take immediate steps to address the issue.
Meanwhile, Awami National Party, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Mian Iftikhar Hussain expressed serious concern over what he called “unjustified” loadshedding in the province, saying prolonged outages amid intense heat had made life unbearable for people.
In a statement issued here on Monday, he said rural areas were experiencing up to 22 hours of loadshedding, while electricity remained unavailable for several hours without notice even in urban areas. Low voltage had further compounded the problems faced by consumers, he added.
Mr Hussain said prolonged power outages caused water shortage in several areas, while students were being forced to sit in classrooms without electricity amid extreme heat.
“Charging consumers hefty bills and then depriving them of electricity is sheer injustice,” he said.
The ANP leader said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the country’s largest producer of cheap hydropower, yet its people were being deprived of the benefit of this resource.
He said the federal government owed the province its net hydel profit, but the provincial government did not seem committed to securing its constitutional rights from the Centre.
He said people were suffering from expensive electricity, prolonged loadshedding and inflation, while the federal and provincial governments were busy shifting responsibility onto each other.
Mr Hussain demanded an immediate end to loadshedding and low voltage and called for payment of the province’s net hydel profit.
Meanwhile, a Pesco spokesperson attributed the recent increase in load management in its service region to a reduction in power generation caused by the non-availability of RLNG.
The spokesperson said a temporary load management of one to three hours was being carried out during peak hours due to reduced power supply. The measure would be withdrawn as soon as the electricity supply improved, he added.
However, he said areas with high transmission and distribution losses would continue to receive electricity according to the prescribed schedule.
He urged consumers to conserve electricity during peak hours by avoiding its unnecessary use.
He also said electricity theft through illegal connections, particularly at night, overloaded the system and caused faults, resulting in increased loadshedding.
Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2026
