SHANGLA: The Peshawar Electric Supply Company has failed to energise the 132KV Shang grid station by the deadline of July 30 set by a local jirga.
The grid station was announced by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in 2012 and work on its installation was inaugurated by then PML-N MNA Ibadullah Khan, but it could not be made functional so far to the suffering of Bisham and Chakesar people.
“The inauguration of 132KV grid station has become a political dispute as PML-N claims that it was approved by Amir Muqam, and now the PTI government is going to inaugurate it,” Shahid Khan, a village nazim in Bisham, said.
He said the residents wanted smooth power supply and not the political point scoring on the grid station.
Liaqat Yousafzai, younger brother of information minister Shaukat Yousafzai, claimed that Chief Minister Mahmood Khan was to inaugurate the grid station on July 26, but NTDC had pointed out that without installation of some missing meters in the grid station, power supply from it was illegal.
He said Mr Yousafzai had talked to the Pesco chief and that a week more would be needed for energising the grid station.
Fazal Elahi, a youth, said a local jirga had given the authorities the July 30 deadline for making functional the grid station, otherwise the people would block the KKH, but the date had gone by without any protest.
Wakeel Khan, another local, said, the people were experiencing prolonged electricity loadshedding. He said the people would wait for a week and then they would come onto the roads.
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf local leadership has urged the workers to bring more and more people into the party fold during the ongoing membership drive.
The call was made at a meeting, where the participants also asked the workers to start preparing for upcoming local government elections and woo voters for the PTI candidates.
