DRSOH: Due to inefficiency of WAPDA officials, the Drosh town and its nearby areas remained without electricity for four days, forcing the residents to take to the streets.
The power outages started after a 150 KV transformer got burst and WAPDA staff could not repair or replace it. The transformer provided power to Drosh bazaar, residential areas and the tehsil headquarters hospital.
WAPDA officials in Timargarah and Chitral told the consumers that if they could take the out-of-order transformer to Chakdara they would be given a 200 KV transformer in its place. But was this the responsibility of the consumers to carry the transformer to Chakdara for replacement?
But even then, the local people arranged a vehicle on their own and took the transformer to Chakdara where they were handed a 100 KV transformer instead of 200 KV as promised.
When the 100 KV transformer reached Drosh, the locals protested but WAPDA officials assured them that they would soon arrange another 100 KV transformer.
However, when the 100 KV transformer was installed and power passed through to the consumers, it also developed faults after damaging costly household appliances of the consumers.
This forced the citizens to protest in front of the office of the assistant commissioner Drosh and warn the power utility officials to resolve the issue on a priority basis.–S. Nazir Hussain Shah