Helplines are normally launched to facilitate consumers, but there’s a helpline that’s either out of order or it’s equivalent to winning lotto if by chance you succeed in getting through.
The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has established a helpline ‘119’ for consumers to register their complaints — mainly for those who are facing low pressure of gas in their homes.
However, it needs a lot of patience and temperament to get through this helpline number from a landline telephone.
“What’s the use of this number if it’s constantly engaged,” said Abbas Ali, a resident of Rawalpindi, who had been trying the helpline number (119) for last four days without any success.
An official of the SNGPL conceded that it’s tough for consumers to register their complaints. “That’s true, you can hardly get through the helpline number,” the official told ‘The News’ on Friday.
For the information of consumers, the SNGPL has also launched a campaign through media in which it had intimidated them about the timings during which there will be low pressure of gas.
But a survey conducted by ‘The News’ in Rawalpindi revealed that the problem of low gas pressure occurs anytime.
“They say that by 8 p.m the gas pressure will be okay, but it’s totally baseless,” said Mrs. Hussain, a housewife in Saddar.
The cantonment is the worst-affected part in Rawalpindi where people are facing a lot of problems due to low pressure of gas.
According to the SNGPL timings of low-pressure gas, schoolchildren are also getting affected.
“From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., we could hardly switch on our ovens because the pressure is so low that it’s not possible to even boil an egg,” said another housewife living in Rahimabad.
“That’s the peak time of our children going to school. They rush to their schools after drinking just a glass of ‘cold’ milk,” she added.
Cooking food for the family is another major problem. “For how long one could buy food from outside, everything is so expensive,” said Imtiaz Jehanzeb, a banker.
Imtiaz lives in the vicinity of Rawalpindi Cantonment where consumers are getting affected from low pressure of gas supply.
Despite making a number of attempts on both landline and cell phones of various high-ranking officials of the SNGPL in Islamabad, one could not succeed in getting their side of the story.
An SNGPL official in Rawalpindi said that one of the reasons for low pressure of gas is sharp increase in consumption of Sui gas in winters. “When we install a connection, normally consumers don’t give the actual consumption of gas in their homes,” the official said.
“So when winters come, naturally it generates extra pressure on pipelines and that’s the reason that we face low pressure of gas,” he added.
