Traffic disrupted as people protest gas crisis in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The persistent gas shortage and low pressure forced the angry residents to come on roads in the provincial metropolis on Friday and register protest against the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

The protest call had been given by the Gulberg Residents Society. The area is sited very close to the Cantonment and has been facing a lack of proper gas supply and low pressure for quite some time.

Several residents from the nearby Nauthia areas, which comprises several localities, joined the protest.

The angry gas consumers reached the busy chowk in the heart of Saddar. The traffic on the busy Saddar and Arbab roads was disrupted during the protest.

The protesters burnt used tyres and raised slogans against the government and the SNGPL. They were carrying banners inscribed with slogans against the SNGPL.

The speakers came down hard on the government and the SNGPL for depriving them of an important utility of gas to most areas of Peshawar in this chilling weather.

They said at a time when the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the province were facing a severe cold, people were going without adequate gas supply but the government was unmoved.

The protesters said they had no option but to adopt other sources of fuel such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and firewood to meet daily needs. They said all this had brought an extra burden on their domestic budget.

The traffic on all the main roads in Saddar was in a mess during the protest. Long queues of vehicles were seen on the Sher Shah Suri, Sunehri Masjid and Saddar roads.

The commuters were stuck up and heard cursing the government and SNGPL for their insensitivity to the issue. Meanwhile, most areas in old quarters of the city and elsewhere, including, Gulbahar, Faqirabad, Dilazak Road, continued to face the gas crisis.