DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Women staged a protest against the prolonged power cuts in Tank district on Thursday.

Men also joined them before they pelted stones at the Pesco offices, complaining that suspension of electric supply for around 20 hours daily paralysed life and caused a severe water shortage.

No damage to public life or property was, however, reported.

The protesters insisted that the residents had been subjected to power outages for the last 18 months.

Protesters complained that the cases of diarrhea had surged among children and the elderly due to `extreme heat.

Pesco and other authorities are indifferent to the people`s misery, according to the speakers, including ANP district president Fazal Kareem Tator, Nadeem Mehsud and Sanam Gul Tator.

They also alleged massive corruption in the power utility and flayed `illegal fines, overbilling, blackmailing and bribery.

The speakers saidif Pesco worked diligently, no consumer would default on bills.

They questioned the legality of collecting Rs1,000-Rs1,500 per unauthorised power connection (kunda) per month from rural consumers and insisted that billions of rupees worth of that revenue was unaccounted-for The speakers warned that if authorities failed to take corrective measures, the residents would stage a sit-in outside the Prime Minister`s House in Islamabad.URBAN FOREST: The Gomal Medical College has taken a major step for environmental conservation by establishing its first institutional urban forest here.

The joint initiative of the college`s Department of Community Medicine and environmental organisation Save Earth Shajar Dost was inaugurated by the dean and chief executive of the college, Prof Naseem Saba Mehsud, who also planted a sapling.

Chairperson of the Community Medicine Department Prof Nargis Noman along with her team appreciated the efforts of the organization.

The organisation`s coordinator, Aamir Sohail Sadozai, assured full support to the college.

In the first phase of the Urban Forest project, various types of plants were planted over around 4.5 kanals of land. The event was attended by faculty members from various departments, students, representatives fromWWFP Recharge Pakistan, and other guests.

The college staff, led by supervisor Kamran Khan Gandapur and guided technically by Shajar Dost`s technical director Azmat Kamal Khakwani, carried out land preparation and other related activities.

Last year, the Gomal Medical College and Save Earth Shajar Dost signed a memorandum of understanding under which the organisation will assist in the development of an urban forest plantation on vacant land and provide technical assistance for establishing an in-house nursery.

In connection with that collaboration, over 150 fruit-bearing trees were also planted on campus on the occasion of World Forest Day.

Experts noted that urban forests played a vital role in combating environmental pollution, lowering temperatures, improving air quality, and promoting biodiversity.