LAHORE: Several parts of Lahore continue facing the shortage of gas despite its dwindling demand in the wake of rising mercury as there is either no gas or gas with extremely low pressure after 9pm on a daily basis.

“Facing such issues since November last, we expected the problem will be over with the start of summer,” Ikram, of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) Housing Society, said.

“There is no gas from 9pm to 5am daily,” he added.

He argued that generally, the tail-end areas face such a situation in winter but not in summer. But despite the fact, the OPF scheme is not located at the tail-end areas, the residents continue to face such a terrible situation since November.

SNGPL MD disagrees

“We demand the government to look into the matter immediately by taking up it with the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) authorities,” he sought.

Besides OPF Housing Society, the areas reportedly facing gas shortage in night hours include Old Anarkali, Valencia Town, Johar Town (in some blocks), Township, Garden Town, Gulberg, Super Town situated along Walton Road, Iqbal Town, Chungi Amarsadhu, Cavalry Ground, Sahafi Colony (Harbandspura), Shad Bagh, Mughhalpura, Kotli Pir Abdul Rehman, Garhi Shahu, Paragon City, College Road and some localities along Multan Road.

“It seems that there is no government in the country at the moment, as the rulers, on one hand, are busy fighting the no-trust motion, the public at large, on the other hand, is facing low gas pressure or no gas, expensive LPG, inflation and unemployment,” mourns Ahmad, of a locality along Walton Road. He said though, for the last 30 days, temperatures have increased considerably, the gas shortage persists.

“I never witnessed such a situation,” he continued.

Talking to Dawn, Akhar, of Township, said the gas shortage in summer is really shocking. “Though it is a matter of great concern, the government and the SNGPL are mum,” he said.

“The government must resolve this issue.”

Mehmood, of Sahafi colony, Anwar of Shad Bagh, Akram of Chungi Amar Sadhu, Asghar of Gulberg and others from various residential areas also complained about gas shortage in their localities.

“Whenever we ask the SNGPL field officials (meter readers, bill distributors etc) about the gas shortage, they show ignorance about the issue,” said Asghar while talking to Dawn. He said Gulberg always faced extreme low gas pressure in winter but not in the summer.

“The non-provision of gas after 9pm till early morning hours is really an ordeal,” he added.

SNGPL Managing Director Ali Hamdani , however, says there is no gas shortage at all.

“Due to the sudden and early start of summer, we are forced to provide gas to the gas-fired power plants to meet the increasing demand for electricity. On the other hand, the hydel power generation has also been affected owing to insufficient rain,” he explained.

He said despite all this, the SNGPL is trying to provide gas uninterruptedly to domestic gas consumers.

“I think that such complaints (gas shortage after 9pm) exist in some isolated areas but not those being reported,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2022