Disruption of gas supply makes consumers suffer in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Disruption of gas supply in the provincial capital on Saturday and Sunday made the consumers suffer and many staged protests to vent their anger.

A big protest rally was staged in Peshawar and was led by Member National Assembly, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, who is a senior leader of the Awami National Party. The protest started from Chowk Shaheedan in historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar and ended at Chowk Yagdar.

Some protestors also came out on the Kohat Road.

Many consumers complained that the disruption was due to unscheduled loadshedding of natural gas in different localities of the provincial capital. Protests have been staged earlier also against low pressure and loadshedding of gas.

The gas hide and seek has forced consumers to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or other sources of fuel to prepare meals and meet other needs.

The disruption of gas supply became acute Saturday evening and continued Sunday morning. It was restored by the afternoon. However, the general manager of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Arbab Saqib said that there is no loadshedding of gas and the suspension in some areas of the provincial capital on Sunday was because of shifting of the main supply line that was exposed due to the construction work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on the GT Road.

Arbab Saqib said that the gas supply in parts of Peshawar was temporarily suspended due to the repair work and re-routing of the main line near Pir Zakori Bridge.

"The SNGPL crew worked throughout the night and restored the gas supply at 8am gradually. All the concerned officers were on the spot to monitor the huge activity," he added.

The work on BRT has added to the miseries of gas consumers. The supply remained cut off in certain localities for over 12 hours on Friday. The problem is acute in places like Gulberg, Nauthia, Saddar, Dilazak Road, Warsak Road and the walled city. The SNGPL has been unable to prevent the use of compressors and generators to steal gas. Many consumers use compressors to enhance gas pressure depriving the neighbouring households of the facility. The use of generators is also common despite being illegal.

Consumers said the SNGPL authorities didn’t take timely steps for shifting the pipeline from the BRT route.