The ongoing power load-shedding conflict in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has escalated dramatically, prompting Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to intervene personally.
In a bold step, Gandapur stormed the Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) grid station to ensure the electricity was restored, declaring a new load-shedding schedule capped at 12 hours per area. He instructed assembly members to monitor grid stations in their regions to enforce this directive.
Simultaneously, Fazal Elahi, a member of the Sunni Ittehad Council, took drastic measures by forcefully reinstating power at the Rehman Baba grid station in Peshawar. This action led to a police FIR, although Elahi was not directly named in the complaint.
Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) officials reported that Elahi’s unauthorized action at 11 PM reconnected ten feeders with high line losses, resulting in a financial loss of Rs2.64 million to PESCO. These feeders were later deactivated once more.
PESCO officials explained that Elahi’s constituency, burdened with high losses, typically experienced 16 hours of load shedding. They clarified that in rural areas with similar issues, 16-hour load shedding was standard, whereas areas without losses faced no load shedding. This series of events has heightened tensions around power distribution in the region, further complicated by a viral video showing Elahi and his associates lounging in the Rehman Baba grid station after their intervention.
