Survey reveals 60% SNGPL connections leak gas

LAHORE: A Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) survey to monitor the use of gas-powered generators revealed that 60 per cent of domestic consumer connections had gas leaks.

An official of the SNGPL told The Express Tribune that out of the 100,000 connections surveyed, approximately 60,000 had major leaks. He stated that the primary reason was the wear and tear of bad quality pipelines.

Despite the discovery, the company has failed to remedy the problem so far. Consumers stated that company inspectors only reacted when a gas leak was found within a meter and forced users to incur the additional cost of meter replacement.

Meanwhile, consumers have accused SNGPL of charging an additional amount of Rs2,000-3,000 in the monthly bills to cover the cost of a new meter. Disgruntled customers stated that they had repeatedly lodged complaints about leakages but the company did not address the problem.

A consumer, Dr Sajjad Kamran, stated: “The gas company has not once sent an official to address the problem despite registering several complaints. I would have hired a private contractor to fix the leak but the problem is that I am not allowed to do so.

“There has been a gas leak outside my house for over a month now and I have been calling the company’s complaint cell almost every day. Now they tell me that they are going to add the cost of a new meter to my bill. How is that fair?”

Another consumer named Ather Bashir said, “I was receiving an abnormally high bill for the past two month even though my consumption was the same as last year. I found myself paying twice the amount that I was paying only a few months ago. I checked the pipes eventually and discovered that there was a major leak. I phoned the company and registered my complaint but nothing happened. I had to get a reference from a senior officer before they repaired the faulty pipe”.

A spokesman for the SNGPL said that checking meters was a routine activity and whenever a problem was discovered it was resolved in a timely manner.

He added that sometimes consumers had to tolerate delays since there was a huge backing.

“We try our best to address the complaints, but sometimes when things are very hectic, our ability to remedy problems diminishes,” stated the SNGPL official.

“Our survey shows that 30 per cent of consumers were using gas generators but the company has not been able to decide on an appropriate action so far,” he added.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2010.