A large number of protesters choked city roads and the main GT Road here at T-Chowk Rawat for hours over power bills on Tuesday.
The angry protesters burnt tires and blocked GT Road for all kinds of traffic from both sides. Thousands of vehicles remained stranded since morning. A heavy contingent of police reached the spot to disperse the protesters but in vain.
Some protests were also observed at Rehmatabad, Dhoke Ratta, Dhoke Hassu, and Adiala Road where residents of nearby localities blocked the road in protest against what they called the issuance of excessively and unreasonably high electricity bills. Chanting slogans against the authorities, they were of the view that massive surges in electricity bills have come at a time when inflation has already wreaked havoc on the poor masses. The demonstrators blocked both sides of the roads and burnt their electricity bills.
The angry protesters forcefully entered in Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Lesco) offices and announced not to pay inflated bills. The officials of Iesco ran away to their offices to see the protesting mob. The protesters carried banners and placards in their hands and demanded the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take suo moto notice against electricity bills.
The helpless commuters remained stuck in one of the worst traffic jams for hours here at GT Road. They also shouted slogans against prolonged load-shedding and power outages, especially during the night. Despite the presence of police, protesters blocked main roads for vehicular traffic and staged a sit-in. They even used batons to forcibly stop vehicular movement. The protesters said that the power failure and excessive utility bills had made their lives miserable on every count.
It is an open secret that consumers faced 10 to 12 hours of unscheduled load-shedding during 24 hours in July 2022. They not only faced 10 to 12 load-shedding but prolonged power blackouts in the name of technical faults as well. But now the consumers are receiving skyrocketing electricity bills in August, the protesters said. The authorities ignored public demands and issued bills, people said, adding that the government has put the citizens in a tight spot. The government should immediately waive the Fuel Price Adjustment (FPA) and reduce the rates of other taxes, protesters demanded.
The GT Road and Highway Road were jam-packed with thousands of vehicles because angry protesters occupied the roads till the filing of this report. Some of the protesters also carried sticks in their hands to forcefully stop vehicles. Particularly, families faced hell-like situations on GT Road.
The majority of Iesco officials ran away from their offices in tense areas where protesters were protesting against electricity bills.
The protesters told that on one hand their breadwinners had been rendered jobless due to ‘anti-masses’ economic policies of the government and, on the other, exorbitant electricity bills were sent to them. How they would survive in this situation, they strongly denounced.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice of electricity bills but practically consumers yet not gotten any kind of benefit from it.