KARACHI: Several workers of a politico-religious party were apprehended during a protest over the ongoing water and power crisis in the city.
Karachi has witnessed unscheduled outages as the K-Electric and Sui Southern remain untangled in a dispute over nonpayment of dues, resulting in reduced supply of gas to run the power company’s plant to capacity.
On Friday, the city witnessed protests in over 20 locations including Sharah-e-Faisal, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, Kala Board, University Road, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Lea Market, Lyari, Moosa Colony, Banaras, Gizri and Punjab Chowrangi as the Jamaat-e-Islami had announced a shutter down strike call for the day.
The protesters shouted slogans against prolonged load-shedding and water shortages, demanding discontinuation of electricity in the city. The protesters also blocked roads by putting tyres in the middle, causing traffic jam in various localities.
Jamaat-e-Islami information secretary Zahid Askari claimed that the police took at least seven of their protesting workers from protest sites in Malir, Shah Faisal and Gulshan-e-Maymar, however, he said that the detainees would likely to be released soon.
Published in Daily Times, April 28th 2018.
