SNGPL suspends gas supply to divert to domestic consumers. PHOTO: FILE
CNG consumers residing in Region-II will face a suspension in supply till Sunday (today) if cold weather persists for another day. After Sunday, the three-day mandatory closure will take effect, and CNG will not be available to consumers till Thursday in this region, says a senior official of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL). The region comprises Lahore, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal and Multan.
All Pakistan CNG Association’s Punjab Chairperson Capt (retd) Shuja Anwer said gas supply to CNG stations has not been restarted after the previous week’s mandatory closure owing to low pressure and the spell of cold weather. The suspension was enforced to facilitate domestic consumers of gas, but there are reports that gas supply to consumers in the outskirts of Lahore was also suspended.
Owing to the closure of CNG stations in Region-II, which number about 1,400, the consumption of alternative fuels (petrol and diesel) increased about 40%. Consumers may have to bear that additional financial burden for four more days, the SNGPL official warned.
In the past week, SNGPL authorities had informed the CNG association that in order to continue gas supply to domestic consumers, supply to CNG stations would not be resumed after the three-day weekly load-shedding.
Anwer said the closure of CNG stations was putting a financial burden on users, as they had to switch to diesel and petrol to continue using their vehicles. “It also disturbs public transport, as they had increased their fares owing to the use of petrol and diesel in transport,” Anwer added.
“On an average, 1.5 million users of CNG in Region-II are facing a huge financial burden due to the unexpected closures,” Anwer said. The price of CNG has not yet been decided by the committee constituted under the chairmanship of Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naek.
Muhammad Usman, a CNG station owner, said it was ridiculous that the price of CNG has still not been decided in the last three months. The closure of gas to stations has added to the miseries of investors as well. “The government should evolve a comprehensive plan to regulate the supply of gas to CNG stations and domestic consumers,” Usman said. “We made huge investments in this sector and had provided jobs to millions of youth.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2012.
Like Business on Facebook to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ