ISLAMABAD: The residents of Gilgit have endured an agonizing week of near-total power outages, with electricity supply limited to just one hour a day.
For over seven days, load shedding has lasted up to 23 hours, causing widespread disruption in daily life, crippling businesses, and leaving residents struggling to cope.The blackout has not only darkened homes but also impacted essential services like mobile and internet connectivity.
Many residents, unable to charge their phones, have been cut off from communication, further aggravating the situation. The SCO towers also ran out of signals as the outage prolonged.
Speaking about the hardship, local resident Muhammad Zubair said, “We are living in the dark, both literally and metaphorically. With no electricity, our phones are dead, our businesses have come to a standstill, and our lives have been completely disrupted.” Another resident Shahid Ali, lamented, “Children can’t study, and daily activities have become a nightmare. We are mentally exhausted.”
The government attributed the outage to a boulder that damaged a crucial water channel supplying power to the town. According to minister Information G-B Eiman Shah, a large boulder struck the channel at Naltar, severely damaging it.
“Unfortunately, this made it impossible to continue the supply of electricity,” said the minister, adding”We understand the frustration of the people and have worked tirelessly to restore power. Light is expected to return today.”
The week-long ordeal has drawn widespread criticism of G-B government’s preparedness in dealing with such disruptions.While officials say they are working to fix the issue, the residents of Gilgit are hoping for a swift return to normalcy as the power is promised to be restored soon.
In last February, protest demonstrations broke out across Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday against prolonged electricity load-shedding, paralysing routine life in the region.Most areas in the region have been enduring 22 hours of outages in a day for a long time. People of KashroteGilgit area, including women and children, took to streets against prolonged outages.
Enraged people, carrying banners inscribed with their demands, chanted slogans against the government. They blocked Park link road and burnt tyres.
Later, the protesters marched to the River Road near GB Chief Minister’s House, held a protest rally there and blocked the road. Vehicular traffic on River Road remained suspended for five hours because of the protest. The protesters said they have been experiencing 22 hours’ loadshedding daily which has paralysed their routine life.
They said housewives could not cook food for their family members and children could not study as power outages have paralysed daily life of all people of the area.The protesters said they are provided electricity for only two hours’ daily and this situation has made the people’s lives a mess.
The protesters said that VIP people are being provided electricity 24 hours daily through special power lines.
