PESHAWAR: Employees of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) on Wednesday urged the federal government and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to equip them with modern tools to reduce the number of deaths occurring during their duties.
Office bearers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa All Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Workers Union (APWHWU) held a protest rally from Aman Park to Peshawar Press Club on the call of their central leaders. The protestors were holding banners and placards inscribed with different slogans in favour of their demands. APWHWU Central Chairman Gohar Taj, KP Chairman Haji Muhammad Iqbal, General Secretary Mustajab Mazdur, Information Secretary Gohar Ali Gohar, Deputy Chairman Ali Syed and Deputy Secretary Liaqat Ali led the rally.
Talking to reporters, the protestors said that PESCO provided electricity to more than 200 million people despite lacking latest equipment. He added that due to lack of modern tools, some 12 linemen had lost their lives while 32 others got injured in the past two months.
Since 1990, there were 11,771 linemen and assistant linemen for 1.5 million consumers, they highlighted, adding that currently PESCO has 5,000 linemen for 4.8 million consumers. PESCO administration has ignored the basic policy of safety and provision of facilities to its employees and is mainly focusing on line losses and recovery, they lamented.
The protestors said that there was neither an effective planning system nor any safety rule on the sub-divisional level, adding that the employees never retreated while performing their duties despite lack of facilities provided to them. They further said that the workers were dying everyday at the hands of the government, WAPDA and PESCO, and warned that if the employees were not equipped with modern tools, they would be compelled to cut off electricity across the province.