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.
