Daily Times

An angry mob of the ruling party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Teherek-e-Insaf (PTI), forcefully restored power at the Rehman Baba Grid Station in Peshawar on Thursday night.

PTI leader Malik Shahab, along with dozens of protestors, entered the grid station and restored power.

The spokesperson of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) said PTI leader Malik Shahab, accompanied by a crowd, forced the activation of the Kachori feeder at the Rehman Baba Grid Station.

The spokesperson said the protestors allegedly coerced PESCO staff into restoring the feeder, which had high losses due to electricity theft and unpaid dues exceeding 83%. The PESCO spokesperson said the forced activation of the feeder is affecting the electricity supply to other feeders. The spokesperson said legal action was being taken against political worker Malik Shahab and other protestors. Local leader of Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Dildar Khan forcefully switched on electricity transmission from Matani Grid Station here Friday.

According to the PESCO spokesman, in areas where the duration of electricity load shedding was more than other areas due to excessive line losses, local people including the political figures boke-in to power grids and switched on the power transmission to their areas.

He said that the incidents of harassment of PESCO employees were on the rise and the staff, in a bid avoid public rage, accepted their unlawful demands,

According to the spokesman, the ratio of line losses on Matani Grid was 85.5 percent. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said forcefully switching on electricity transmission with the consent of local political figures has now become a trend posing threat to the entire transmission system and PESCO staff security.

A few days back the protestors switched on electricity from Golozai and Muhammad Zai feeders during a protest rally, he said adding the ratio of line losses on Golozai feeder was 80.7 percent while on Muhammad Zai feeder was facing a line loss of 71.9 percent.