‘Take care of agriculture, environment’

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Forestry, Fisheries, Wildlife and Environment Muhammad Sibtain Khan assured his support for North South Gas Pipeline project in Punjab, while emphasising upon the construction companies to take care of agriculture and environment during its execution along its route through the province.

“The environmental assessment study must focus on protection of agriculture and environment as pipeline track passes through Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and all the way to Okara and Nankana Sahib districts inside Punjab’s territory,” he said while speaking at a workshop held at a local hotel on Thursday as part of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) study being conducted for North South Gas Pipeline project.

He said the Punjab government would extend full cooperation to complete the project within stipulated time. Punjab Environment , Punjab, Director General Syeda Maleeka also called upon environmental organization conducting environmental assessment study on the gas pipeline project to take into accounts various technical, environmental and social aspects to implement the project in a transparent manner. Saquib Ejaz Hussain, project manager, ESIA study, said that Pakistan government was pursuing the project to bring in additional gas to mitigate the widening gap between natural gas supply and demand in the country.

He said that an 803-km long pipeline would pass through 12 districts of Pakistan, including four districts of Sindh and eight of Punjab. “Starting from Nawabshah, it will pass through Shaheed Benaziabad, Khairpur, Sukkur and Ghotki in Sindh and then enter Punjab through Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Vehari, Pakpattan, Bahawalnagar, Okara and Kasur. It will terminate at downstream River Ravi near Karianwala village in Nankana Sahib. He said that the project envisaged laying of a 15.9-mm diameter pipeline one-meter below into the ground.