People in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok), Gilgit-Baltistan protested in two districts over the shortage of electricity and wheat , Dawn reported.
Protesters at Zulfiqarabad Chowk chanted slogans against the government and said the crisis had been going on for the last two weeks. The residents said they were sometimes deprived of even two hours of daily electricity supply, making their lives difficult amid winter.
One of the protesters said that the Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister should be here to resolve public issues, but he was in Lahore “to protect former prime minister Imran Khan”.
Meanwhile, the residents of Ghanche’s Barah village, the hometown of GB Local Government Minister Haji Abdul Hameed, also staged a protest against the wheat shortage.
The demonstrators blocked Siachen Road and staged a sit-in to press the government to fulfil their demands, reported Dawn.
Prolonged power cuts have led to frequent angry demonstrations in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Skardu city has been left totally without electricity for the past three months. Load-shedding has become a daily occurrence.
The power situation has worsened over the years despite the abundance of water resources in a region that is reputedly
The estimated total hydropower potential of Pakistan is around 60,000 MW. Currently, the hydro installed capacity is only 10,251MW, around 25 per cent of the total installed capacity. Successive governments have resorted to imports as an easy solution.(MILAP NEWS NETWORK)
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