Quetta to get 13km gas pipeline

Sui Southern Gas Company General Manager Madani Siddiqui has announced that a 13 km long gas pipeline with a 16-inch diameter is being laid in Quetta at a cost of Rs1 billion to overcome gas shortage.

“This pipeline will help alleviate the gas pressure shortage apart from supplying gas to Kalat and Mastung,” he said. “In order to meet the needs of the population in Nawa Killi, FC and Zarghoon Housing, we are also planning to lay a 12-inch diameter pipeline.”

The SSGC GM expressed these views while addressing participants at the Quetta Chamber of Commerce.

He said efforts were being made to address the issue of gas pressure at oxygen plants on the outskirts of the city in the wake of the global outbreak.

Drawing attention to the reduced gas pressure in Quetta, Siddique highlighted that Balochistan has a significant share in the total gas production of the country which amounts to 15 per cent but it does not receive its due share even though the population of the province is less than the cities of Punjab and Sindh.

“Gas connections have been provided to other provinces but people of Balochistan are deprived of it. Karachi, Faisalabad and other major cities have no problem of low gas pressure but consumers in different districts of Balochistan and Quetta city face this problem on a daily basis,” he said, adding that the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry condemns the gas theft and assures the SSGC of all possible cooperation in this regard.

The SSGC general manager demanded a ban on the use of compressors and efforts for prevention of gas theft.

Giving details about the new gas pipeline project, he relayed that the new pipeline will be laid from the Eastern Bypass of Quetta to Zarghoon Road whereas work on the project will begin from April 2021.

“We have requested the provincial government to postpone the work on the Quetta Modification Project in the pipeline area for the time being,” he said. “It is imperative for roads to not be re-excavated which is another reason for reduced gas pressure.”

Siddique also highlighted how monthly bills of 160,000 customers out of 200,000 amounted to zero as no gas was supplied to their homes.

“Currently, the SSGC is facing a loss of 70 per cent. The company is currently supplying gas to industrial consumers at higher prices and to domestic consumers at lower prices,” he said, adding that natural gas was being supplied to 11 districts of the province while 5 districts including Gwadar, Nushki, Awaran and Bela were supplied with gas through LPG plants.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2020.