Missing facilities: For Kabal residents, gas line remains a pipedream

Authorities cite delay in reconstruction of a bridge as main hurdle.

SWAT: Eight years on, for the residents of Kabal Tehsil, the dream to get gas remains to be a pipedream.

Following approval from both the previous and present governments, the pipelines were laid along the road leading from Mingora to Kabal but the scheme could not be completed.

“In 2007, MNA Amir Muqam the then member of the Musharraf cabinet, inaugurated the gas scheme at Kabal Square but he could not implement it. Then MNA Muzaffarul Mulk had the gas pipelines transported and placed along the road. But no progress has been made yet,” Dawlatmand Nashad, a local journalist told The Express Tribune. “We wonder where the international aid for rehabilitation is being spent on,” he added.

In the absence of gas, locals make do with liquefied-petroleum gas (LPG) or burn firewood for domestic use. However, both options are expensive.

“People are very poor and can’t afford to purchase LPG for cooking, The average family income is below Rs7,000 and only the fuel costs more than Rs5,000. How can we meet both ends on about Rs2,000 in a month?” Mohammad Hussain, a local, said.



“We urge the government to give the scheme a practical shape as it will lessen our financial woes and help preserve the forest trees that were being ruthlessly chopped down,”  Naveed Ahmad, a social activist, said. He added that whenever they ask elected representatives about the scheme, they are told that funds have been approved and work will soon.

When contacted, Rahmat Ali Khan, a member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, said that the main hurdle in implementing the scheme is the delay in reconstruction of Ayub bridge that served as the only link between Kabal and Mingora. The bridge was destroyed during floods two years back.

“Until the bridge is reconstructed, the gas pipeline cannot be installed. We have asked the federal government times and again to implement the scheme and hope that work on the bridge will be soon be completed,” Khan added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2013.