Citizens worry about gas leakage incidents

Rawalpindi:The residents of Rawalpindi city and cantonment have showed strong concerns on ‘Gas Leakage’ in several areas but concerned authority was dealing this issue non-seriously. According to Rescue 1122, total 16 incidents of gas leakage appeared in a month and due to it six people including four children died. This ratio of gas leakage incidents was continuously increasing day-by-day.

A week back, a gas leak incident in Shamsabad left four children dead and their mother in a critical condition at the Holy Family Hospital, another incident of similar nature claimed the life of a teenage boy and injured seven members of the family in a two-storey house in People’s Colony near Tench Bhatta.The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) Senior General Manager Syed Mukhtar Shah told ‘The News’ that he has formed special teams to end gas leakage in all areas. He advised people to switch off gas particularly at night. He also advised not to use rubber pipes because it was too much dangerous. He has appealed public to inform SNGPL immediately in case of any leakage.

Rizwan Ahmed, a local, said that SNGPL officers not attend telephone calls of public. We prove ourselves a good citizen to inform concerned department about gas leakage but in vain, he claimed.Shazia Tabasum, an advocate, said that higher authorities should conduct an inquiry of gas leakage. The higher authorities should inquire that how 16 gas leakage blasts appeared and how 6 people including four children died due to these blasts, she demanded. Police and rescue officials said the explosions which occurred possibly due to gas leak.

Well-placed sources informed that higher officials have taken notice on these incidents and given this task to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the matter. The FIA has started investigation on the issue, the sources claimed. The FIA will also investigate about illegal gas connections and illegal pipelines.

The residents of Rawalpindi were facing low to zero gas pressure even in peak summer season in June. The innocent consumers wait for gas pressure therefore they on gas stove switch in day and night. Where the gas was going, nobody knows, affected people belonged to different walks of life said.