Naudero, the hometown of Bhutto family, on Tuesday, observed a complete shutter down for the whole first day of Ramadan against discrimination with power supply.
The citizens protested against Sukkur Electric Power Company’s (SEPCO) four feeders in a single town with a population of 80,000.
No shopkeeper or pushcart vendor opened the business as all stood in solidarity with the protesting activists of Shaheri Action Committee, headed by Ghulam Hyder Narejo. The protestors included members of all political and non-political organisations except Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The entire town looked deserted and the residents appeared frustrated with the atrocities committed by local SEPCO officials, who had not been replaced for years. The protesters marched towards SEPCO office where they burned tyres, chanted slogans and held protest demonstrations to demand an end to separate detection bills. They also called for a single feeder for the entire town; zero load shedding and the replacement of burnt and outdated Pole Mounted Transformers (PMT).
At present, zero outage was made on city feeder-2 with eight hours on feeder-1 out of four feeders. The protesters also accused SEPCO of fuelling hatred among the citizens. Others who spoke on the occasion included Javed Bhutto, Abdul Qudoos Panhwar, Mumtaz Sethar, Sahab Khan Shaikh, Mushtaque Kunbhar, Akbar Mangnejo, Nisar Mirani. Talking to media sources, they claimed that the discrimination in electricity supply would not be tolerated anymore and this step-motherly treatment must end immediately. They said that putting feeder-2 on no-outage would increase hatred among the residents, which should have been avoided.
Heavy load shedding being made on another city feeder-1 was called discrimination, highhandedness and favour to the influential people. Feeder-1 also has small industries that clear their bills regularly yet they were denied supply. They demanded the entire town must be put on a single feeder with zero load shedding in this scorching heat. The protestors noted that all meter-holders were clearing their monthly bills provided they were not charged extra detection bills, which had already been declared illegal. The electricity theft could not be made without the support of local SEPCO line staff who had never been checked, the protestors maintained.
They said the residents even had to pay for PMTs’ repair if they went out of order, which according to the rules should be replaced or repaired by SEPCO.
It was said that the electricity supply had been disconnected from the grid station without any prior notice or fault to save stolen units, which must also be stopped.
They added that there was no complaint number in the local SEPCO office, which proved the sheer negligence of the power distribution company employees.
The protestors further said that on Tuesday people observing fast were deprived of offering Taraveeh prayers because the entire Naudero town remained plunged into darkness from 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm with nobody to explain the situation.
They said that while Thar coal-powered plants had started generating electricity, the people of Sindh could not avail their benefits.
The demonstrators announced to continue the protest till their genuine demand was resolved.
In a similar development, SEPCO Executive Engineer (Rural), Mushtaque Burdi, arrived in the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) to be briefed on the situation. He said while talking to media sources that no talks would be held with those who did not have any meters and were involved in electricity theft.
The city feeder-1 would be cleared within one week for zero load shedding, he added. However, he is known for saying this over and over again during the last month while nothing has been done so far.
He urged the consumers to pay monthly bills regularly to get uninterrupted power supply. The engineer denied charging illegal detection bills as he added that if anyone was wrongly sent detection bill, the said consumer should step forward for rectification.
Burdi confessed that city feeder-4 had seven PMTs with only 50 meters, which had been closed for theft.
He said the agitating citizens can come to him for deliberations.