Residents demand improved service; SSGC blames high demand and theft for public woes. ILLUSTRATION: SAMAD SIDDIQUI
The shortages have fuelled a number of street protests and bonfires.
“I have four children and all of them are suffering from flu and cough. I had to take them to the hospital twice, because there is no gas at my house to keep the children warm,” said Munir Ahmed Qureshi, a resident of Railway Colony in Quetta.
He added that they are hoping for a break in the cold snap so that the gas supply could resume.
“Where has the gas vanished?” asked a protester Muhammad Younas. “The government can impose new taxes but they can’t facilitate the people.”
With the mercury shrinking to minus six (-6), heat from protests in the provincial capital has been scorching. Over the past week, rallies have been held on almost a daily basis by residents and political parties such as JUI- N, Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and others.
At a protest this week, some blamed corruption and alleged that a mafia inside utility supplier Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) was starving them of fuel.
“The government has already announced to increase the gas tariff from next month which would be another burden on poor people,” a protester said.
Meanwhile, SSGC General Manager Agha Muhammad Baloch claimed that people in the province owed the utility Rs1.4 billion in unpaid bills, but despite that they were ensuring there was no gas load-shedding in the province.
“After the recent cold wave, usage of gas has increased and sometimes we face system failure due to increased gas production,” Baloch told The Express Tribune, explaining that demand had shot up to 150 million cubic feet for merely 251,000 users.
Further, he said that mobile teams of SSGC had intensified its operation against gas pilferers and illegal connections as he added that the company was making efforts to address supply issues.
“New pipelines are being laid down in areas that were facing severe gas supply issue such as in Usman Qilla, Pashtoonabad and Nohsaar areas of Quetta.”
While the SSGC GM assured that the matter would be resolved in the next few days. The SSGC MD will be appearing before a divisional bench of the Balochistan High Court on December 22 as senior advocate Ali Ahmed Kurd and lawyer Sabra Islam have filed petitions over erratic supply.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2015.
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