PESHAWAR: The Burns and Plastic Surgery Centre Hayatabad is facing disconnection of gas supply over the billing dispute with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), according to sources.

They said that SNGPL sent a bill of Rs28 million to the centre in October last year. However, the centre claimed that it didn’t consume the commodity in such a huge quantity.

The SNGPL says that the centre has consumed the gas mentioned in the bill while the latter argues that it has been sent inflated bill.

Sources said that SNGPL changed the meter twice in April and May last year without informing the administration of Burns and Plastic Surgery Centre and later sent a bill of Rs28 million to the centre in October which it could not pay.

Sources said that On January 18, gas meter was taken away from the centre by the employees of SNGPL but it was reinstalled after an hour when chief minister intervened into the matter.

SNGPL says centre has to pay the amount according to law

Prof Mohammad Tahir, the director of the centre, told Dawn that they had a budgetary allocation of less than Rs300,000 per month for gas. He added that they could not pay such a huge amount.

However, Taj Ali Khan, the general manager of SNGPL, told Dawn that the centre had consumed gas and would have to pay the amount according to law.

“We have asked the center’s administration to deposit 40 per cent of the dues and then we will discuss the issue. Legally, the centre has to pay the amount,” he said.

Prof Tahir said they had deposited one third of the total amount last week and submitted a plea in Peshawar High Court that had fixed May 28 for hearing. “We are requesting the court to take up the case earlier because it is a sensitive matter,” he added.

He claimed that SNGPL erroneously put a penalty of Rs28 million because of their faulty meters in October 2019.

He added that there was no mistake on the part of the centre but SNGPL applied a self-made secret formula

that would ultimately affect the patients, who were receiving free treatment at the only burns centre of the province.

Prof Tahir said that SNGPL was adamant to close the only government-run 120-bed burns centre due to its own negligence and faulty system.

“We have two chillers for air-conditioning and a boiler that operate for few hours daily,” he said. He added that 90 per cent patients hospitalised in the centre had received burn injuries due to gas leakage.

Prof Tahir said that suspension of gas supply would lead to closure of the centre, which had treated 6,500 burns and 2,600 trauma patients since January 2019. Additionally, 24,000 patients underwent plastic surgery in the centre free of cost, he added.

He said that there was no question of tampering with meters because those were locked by SNGPL workers. He added the centre did not have any access to the meters.

“We are not allowed to deposit monthly bills since October 2019. We have also submitted an application in consumer court in December that will be heard in February,” said Prof Tahir.

He said that people were brought to the centre from the entire province as well as Afghanistan.

“They are also treated free just as Pakistanis without any discrimination. We are looking towards the court,” he added.

SNGPL’s Taj Ali Khan said that there was nothing illegal and the centre was required to pay the amount and get uninterrupted supply of gas. “We have a system, which correctly counts the units used by consumers,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2020