Locals of Gwadar protested against the power outage in Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashumi Ward on Saturday. The protestors blocked the main roads and traffic was suspended for hours.
According to local sources, due to failure of an electric transformer for more than a week residents of Zahoor Shah Hashumi Ward of Gwadar have been forced to live in darkness.
The protesters said that in the name of the so-called development in Gwadar, lives of the local people have become even more miserable. “The inhabitants of Gwadar are suffering from darkness and thirst, whereas the so-called development has only added to the misery of the locals,” a protester said.
Social media users also took the issue and raised questions on the claims of Pakistani government officials about the development of Gwadar.
Baloch social media activist Faiz Baluch shared a picture of the women protesters and said “same visuals coming out from Gwadar even after tall repetitive claims of so called development in Gwadar by successive governments. Women and children have blocked the road against continuous power outage and water shortage in Gwadar.”
Dr Zaffar Baloch, a senior member of Baloch National Movement, also took to Twitter to raise voice for the Gwadar protesters and said “women & children protest against long hours of electricity outage in the port city of Gwadar, Balochistan. China-Pakistan strategic site much publicized for so-called development, supposedly benefiting the local inhabitants. Biggest issue here is clean drinking water.”
Anila Yousuf of Baloch Women Forum also criticised the officials in her tweet saying that “women protesting for water and electricity in Gwadar, officials are busy in installing lights in Gwadar Stadium.”
Sources also confirmed that Mir Hammal Kalmati, elected member of Balochistan’s assembly from Gwadar has met with the protesters for negotiations.
Talking to protesters Mir Hammal kalmati said that repair work on the transformer of Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashumi Ward has commenced and it will be fixed. He also said that by the next morning power will be restored in Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashumi Ward.
Protesters told Mr Kalmati about the “threatening and provocative” behaviour of Wapda employees. Mr Kalmati assured the protesters that he will meet the Wapda officials tomorrow and inform them about the behaviour of their employees.
Mr Kalmati also requested the notables of Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashumi Ward to end the protest and open the road for traffic. Locals ended their protest after the assurance from the minister.