No gas loadshedding in KP: SNGPL official  

GM says province producing 400 MMCF gas per day

PESHAWAR: Sui North Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) General Manager Saqib Arbab said on Tuesday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced around 400 MMCF gas per day and it was enough for the needs of the province.

Speaking at a press conference here, he said the province was being supplied the same volume of gas on daily basis in winter for around 675,000 domestic, 6,400 commercial, 3,000 special domestic and 780 industrial consumers.

“After the 18th amendment to constitution, the SNGPL is bound to provide gas to the province where it is produced. There is no concept of gas loadshedding under the gas distribution principles,” he said.The official added all commercial, industrial and domestic consumers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being provided uninterrupted gas supply.

“The low gas pressure issue being faced in certain areas within the province is due to certain factors. Using of inefficient gas-fired electric generators to meet the power requirement has unduly burdened our pipeline network,” said the official. He added that if the households used gas for cooking and water heating, no one in the province would ever face low gas pressure.

He said the usage of substandard room heaters damaged the gas pipeline network and so the consumers at the tail end and lengthy streets faced low gas pressure. “The use of gas compressors by certain consumers puts an extra load on our distribution system for which it is not designed thus depleting the gas available for sale to all the consumers. Most of the consumers use substandard equipment for cooking and water heating and their maintenance are not carried out properly.

Resultantly, the appliances need extra pressure for functioning,” said Saqib Arbab.He added the SNGPL supplied gas to far-flung areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like, Dir, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu. He said they have laid almost 1,000 kilometer gas pipeline network in the last three years as per government directives.

He said SNGPL had taken a number of steps to make more gas available to consumers and several developmental projects were in the pipeline.Saqib Arbab said the SNGPL’s Peshawar Region had brought down gas losses from 19.4 to 14.6 percent during the last three years.“Customer satisfaction has always been a core value in SNGPL policies and decision making. Over the last three years, we have attended and rectified more than 50,000 complaints received through our helpline 1199. This helpline number can be accessed from any mobile or landline number within company’s franchised area.

 Our emergency teams are available 24/7 to tackle any untoward situation,” he added.Saqib Arbab said that if the consumers stuck to their contractual gas load by restricting their gas use to cooking and water heating, it would ensure gas supply to all the fellow citizens.

He said the consumers should stop gas-powered generators and gas compressors and the practice should be discouraged by the concerned towns and union council nazims.