25-km gas pipeline being laid in Rawalpindi

Islamabad: Construction work is in progress to lay 25-kilometer gas pipeline to reinforce existing transmission network of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) in Rawalpindi aims at ensuring smooth supply of the commodity to domestic and commercial consumers especially in peak winter season. The pipeline is being built at a cost of Rs40 million to bring down the company’s line losses and redress increasing complaints about low gas pressure, an official source in the company told APP.

The official said the company was aware of the difficulties being faced by the consumers. He said the low gas pressure issue was a temporary phenomenon as required measures were underway to ensure regular gas pressure till the tail-end.

According to official data available with APP, the SNGPL and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have planned to lay around 12,898 kilometre additional transmission and distribution pipelines during the current fiscal year. During the last fiscal year, the SNGPL and SSGC had provided around 650,339 new connections and laid 14,168 km transmission and distribution pipelines in their network.

Pakistan has an extensive gas network of over 12,829 km transmission, 132,065 km distribution and 34,631 services pipelines to cater the requirement of more than 8.9 million consumers across the country, adding that around 48 per cent energy-mix needs of the country were being met through natural gas. --