In Mingora, gas suspension brings life to a standstill

The valley is witnessing up to 18 hours of gas suspension.

SWAT:

Like other parts of the country, shortage of gas has become a nuisance for the people of Swat valley, who suffer up to 18 hours of gas load shedding.

Gas shortage is not an unusual phenomenon in Swat, however, this year, the crisis has reached new heights, bringing life to a complete standstill. “It has been three days since gas supply has been suspended in Mingora. It took years to install a gas line to our house but now it is useless as the supply is always suspended,” said Fazal Rehman, a resident of Rang M0hallah in Mingora. “Our businesses have been badly hit by gas suspension. We have to use gas cylinders like before which is expensive and supply is scarce,” said Siraj Ahmed, a restaurant owner in Mingora.

The crisis has not only affected commercial activities in the valley, but household chores have also been affected tremendously. “We cannot carry out any activity as gas supply is suspended before breakfast and is restored after midnight,” said Rozina, a housewife in Gul Kada. “The biggest problem is that there is no schedule for load shedding, due to which we cannot plan our activities,” said Ruhul Amin, a university student.

In addition to that, unavailability of compressed natural gas (CNG) is adding further misery to people’s lives, who are being forced to run their vehicles on petrol. Ali Sher, a bus driver, told The Express Tribune that his business was going constantly in loss due to unavailability of CNG. On the other hand, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) does not seem to be working on any plan to provide relief. When the SNGPL was contacted, officials said they had received orders from Islamabad and could not do anything about load management.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2011.