MANSEHRA: Both commercial and domestic power consumers on Saturday complained about the prolonged suspension of electricity and warned the Peshawar Electric Supply Company of street protests.

`Pesco is subjecting us to daylong power cuts on alternate days on the pretext of transmission line maintenance and trimming of roadside trees, badly affecting so our lives, especially business activities, chairman of the central trader body Fayyaz Solaria told reporters.

Accompanied by traders, he said that Pesco had been suspending power supply from 8am to 4pm every other day for sever al weeks.

`Apart from these daylong outages, Peso is also carryingout routine loadshedding, disrupting our businesses,` he said.

Mr Solaria said surgical and other procedures couldn`t be performed at private health centres due to the suspension of electricity.

`Almost all businesses that rely on electricity have been severely affected, leaving owners and workers out of work, he said.

The trader leader said his community`s members had repeatedly met with senior Pesco officials to demand an end to prolonged power outages, but to no avail.

`If Pesco does mend its ways, we will have no option but to take to the streets against it, he warned.

Meanwhile, domestic consumers, led by Mohammad Arif, also complained about the daylong power outages, saying prolonged suspension of electric supply makes it impossible for them to draw water from wells and handpumps.

`We regularly pay electricity bills but still, Pesco imposes prolonged and unscheduledloadshedding on us, an act against the federal government`s directives,` he said.

Resident Ajmal Khan Swati urged Pesco to end prolonged power outages and warned if that didn`t happen, people would stage street protests.

He wondered if Pesco couldn`t ensure smooth electric supply in winter, then how it would provide residents with electricity in summer.

Meanwhile, the district social welfare department has organised an event to train men and women in growing mushrooms, even in limited space and with low investment.

`The growth cycle of mushrooms is short, and it is one of the easiest ways to earn a respectable living. This is why we have been encouraging men and women to cultivate these fungi, which requires an initial investment as low as Rs2,000 and a yielding period of 40 days,` district social welfare officer Sabir Shah told the session held in his office.

Women also attended the session and welcomed the social welfare department`s initiativeto train them in mushroom cultivation to earn a sustainable income.

Agricultural expert Malik Mohammad Asad said Pakistan spent millions on importing mushrooms annually.

He said if local growers took up mushroom cultivation, the country could become self-sufficient in its production.

Meanwhile, the tehsil municipal administration`s vocational institutions are providing training to thousands of women each year to help them earn a respectable living, said assistant Commissioner Muniba Fatima on Saturday.

`These intuitions have been training women in fashion design, embroidery, sewing and other contemporary handicraft fields to equip them with skills that enable them to support themselves and their families, Ms Fatima told a certificate distribution ceremony here on Saturday.

She emphasised that true women`s empowerment could only be achieved when they have the means to earn a respectable livelihood.