Stern action against natural gas pilferers demanded

PESHAWAR: Elders of Chagharmatti, Pajjagi, Faqir Killay and Aslam Dheri have asked the authorities of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to take a stern action against the natural gas pilferers to end the worst loadshedding of the utility in their areas.

In a statement on Sunday, elders including Hakim Khan, Ashfaq Khan, Zarkhitab, Akbar Ali, Tehseenullah Khan and others said that the main pipeline to their area was passing through Bashirabad and Bacha Khan Markaz from Firdous Chowk, where a number of people have got illegal connections.

They said that the illegal practice had been causing severe shortage of gas in their areas, making life of the people miserable. "The pilferers in various localities, including Hassan Garhi, Bashirabad and Bacha Khan Markaz, in connivance with the blacksheep in SNGPL have got illegal gas connections for domestic and commercial purposes from the main pipeline but they do not pay a single penny to the company," the statement added.

The elders said that once the illegal connection to a residential mega building in Hassan Garhi bordering Bashirbabad was cut off by the company staff but later the influential people again got the facility without fulfilling the legal formalities.

They claimed that a blacksmith and another man near Bacha Khan Markaz, who is cooking rice in cauldrons, had been using the natural gas through illegal connections from the main pipeline for the last several years.

The elders alleged that the SNGPL staff was hand in glove with the gas thieves as they were being paid money on monthly basis. They said that the illegal practice was causing huge loss to the national exchequer. They appealed to the SNGPL general manager to intervene in the matter and take stern action against the gas pilferers and blacksheep in the company as well.