Staff Reporter
As soon as the winter arrived, the residents of Rawalpindi have started facing a gas shortage, it has been learned.
Halted gas supply has added to the problems of the residents of Sethi Colony Mohalla, Hekmadad Mohalla, Mahmood Ali Shah, Chah Sultan Nai Abadi and Amrapura Sharjah Ground.
A resident of the affected area said it was very hard to make ends meet in the prevailing price hike. “We would have to pay increased gas bills despite the low pressure,” he added.
“Local leaders before the election made tall claims to end gas loadshedding. However, Dhoke Ratta, Pirwadhai, Mazaharabad and Dhoke Hassu are facing low pressure of gas,” Chairman Citizen Action Committee Zaheer Ahmad Awan said.
He further said gas was being supplied to these areas from the mainline at I.J. Principal Road via Chak Madad Khan. “The supply line is rusty and old as it was laid in the 60s and requires replacement but the government did nothing to improve the situation in the past two years,” he added.
Earlier, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) had warned that the consumers were likely to face an acute shortage of gas during the winter. “The gap between demand and supply of gas is likely to reach 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd),” he added.
“Consumers are going to witness an energy crisis in cold weather due to depleting production of natural gas and domestic consumers [of the SNGPL] will only be provided gas for cooking purposes,” said the official.
