Energy woes: Gas supply falls further due to station breakdown

SNGPL general manager pledges that fault will be fixed by 7am.

LAHORE:

Some parts of the city were deprived of regular gas supply on Saturday after a fault occurred in a sale meter station (SMS) in the Mohlanwal area, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Residents of Defence Phase V, Ghazi Road, Mughalpura, Baghbanpura, Chungi Amar Sidhu and other areas received a low-pressure gas supply which rendered them unable to use their stoves to prepare food.

The Punjab has suffered crippling shortages of natural gas this winter. The supply of gas to Compressed Natural Gas station pumps has been limited to four days a week, while some neighbourhoods have reported low-pressure or no supply of gas to their homes for up to 20 hours a day. The breakdown in the SMS has caused additional areas to suffer low-pressure supply.

Rehan Nawaz, the general manager of Sui Northern Gas Private Limited (SNGPL), told The Express Tribune that the low pressure problem that had affected these areas was caused by the fault in the station. “Work to repair the fault will continue all night,” he said. “The people of these areas should get the full pressure by 7am.”

Asked what fault had developed in the SMS, Nawaz said that some parts were past their regular life and had to be replaced, while some maintenance work was also required.

He said that SNGPL had asked Captain Shujah, the vice chairman of the CNG Association, to ask their members to close their CNG pumps so that the gas supply to domestic consumers could be restored. He said that Capt Shujah had assured him of the association’s support. He also asked members of the general public to remain calm and cooperate with the SNGPL.

Nawaz said that the SNGPL was working on the station overnight as domestic gas use was much lower at night than during the day.

Residents of the affected areas were unable to use stoves or boilers at their homes.

“It’s made our lives miserable,” said Muhammad Abuzar, a resident of Ghazi Road. “We haven’t been able to prepare food. The children have not bathed as there is no hot water either.”

Muhammad Usman, another Ghazi Road resident, said that at times there was low gas-pressure and at times there was none at all. “We are poor people so no one really cares about our problems,” he said.

Rizwan Ahmed, a resident of Samanabad, said that he had been receiving around four hours of gas a day all winter and he had been using wood and coal to heat his house. “They should do something to restore our supply too,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2012.