400 illegal compressors removed in Pindi

SNGPL official urges people not to use suction pumps

RAWALPINDI: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has removed as many as 400 compressors installed in different households across the city.

The action was taken to improve the gas pressure in different areas of the city as the suction pumps help suck gas at a higher pressure when compared to the pressure at which it is supplied.

In this regard, the SNGPL Regional General Manager Javed Khan said that the use of compressors during peak hours worsens the gas pressure situation and consequently, consumers who are not using it have to experience low pressure the city.

Besides that, he said, the company has also discovered severe underground leakages in supply pipelines due to old, corroded supply networks. Most of these lines are located in the old city areas.

The SNGPL manager said that the usage of illegal gas suction compressors also suck water up from the drainage pipes. As a result, the gas lines have been got choked and the gas flow has been restricted.

The department said that it has received many such complaints from different areas of the city, including Satellite Town B-Block, Shareefabad, Parian, Kamalabad, Groti, Tench Bhatta, Muslim Town, Akalgarh, and Pirwadhai.

He added that SNGPL maintenance teams have been working around the clock to drain the water from gas lines using heavy compressors. Thereafter, the gas pressure also improved considerably.

The provision of 15 MMCFD of additional gas to Rawalpindi further improved the pressure.

Apart from the action against illegal compressors, residents were also asked to refrain from using gas compressor machines, adding that the practise must be discouraged at all levels.

He said that new pipelines were also being laid to resolve low-pressure problems and urged the public to be careful in a bid to avert any mishaps. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2020.