Explosion cuts 75% of Malir off from Sui gas

Officials claim that a six-inch section of the pipeline was damaged because of KESC officials.

KARACHI: Around 75 per cent of the residents of Urdu Nagar in Jaffar Tayyar Society did not get gas supply on Saturday after a pipeline in Malir exploded.

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) officials claimed that a six-inch section of the pipeline was damaged because of the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) officials.

“KESC was using the pipeline as an earth. They had attached the pipe to an electric post, because of which a hole was formed in the line,” said SSGC spokesperson Inayatullah Ismail. He added that SSGC had received a complaint and had switched off the electricity supply in the area to initiate repairs when the KESC officials resumed the supply of electricity, as a result of which the pipeline exploded.

However, a KESC spokesperson rejected the allegation, claiming that the company was not responsible for the explosion.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2010.