LAHORE, Jan 10: Ghayyas Abdullah Paracha, chairman Supreme Council of the All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA), on Thursday asked the government to restore gas supply to the CNG filling stations within two or three days otherwise “we will have no option but to open outlets without state consent.”

Speaking at a protest rally at Thokar Niaz Baig, which was part of the nationwide protest demonstrations against the CNG closure, Paracha said the staff of the CNG filling stations had no food to eat and nothing to cater for the needs of their families.

“We cannot cooperate with the government anymore and its reluctance to bring gas loadshedding to an end amounts to forcing us to take law into our own hands,” he said.

The government was trying to sabotage the long march of Dr Tahirul Qadri by creating scarcity of diesel and CNG, said the stakeholders who added gas had been suspended despite improvement in the weather conditions.

Earlier, the protesters blocked the Motorway link road, burnt tyres and chanted slogans against loadshedding. The protesters included CNG operators, unemployed workers of filling stations, drivers, transport owners and some private vehicle owners.

They condemned loadshedding and ‘unjust’ distribution of gas. They demanded immediate removal of Dr Asim, adviser to the PM on energy, due to his controversial decisions.

The adviser had left millions of workers in CNG stations and workshops jobless while investments in the CNG sector to the tune of Rs400 billion was at stake, they said. –INP