October 31, 2001	Wednesday	Shaba'an 13, 1422

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TOBA TEK SINGH, Oct 30: The public is as ignorant to the situation as anybody even after two years of blast in Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

The SNGPL main pipeline from Sui (Balochistan) to Peshawar, supplying gas to Lahore and various other cities also, was reportedly reduced to ashes in a blast on Oct 23, 1999.

As many as 13 people, including 11 SNGPL employees, were burnt to death while dozens became paralyzed. Loss of millions of rupees to both private and government property around the wall-assembly station on the Toba-Jhang Road, some 1.5 km from here, added fuel to fire.

It is about time the reports by various inquiry committees, including the international experts, must reach the public.

A source informed this correspondent at that time the employees were repairing an emergency pipeline of 26-inch dia out of three main pipelines which had suddenly ruptured and had caught fire, nothing could reportedly be seen except ashes following the tragic incident.

The SNGPL had paid compensation to all the bereaved families. Late Raja Abdul Waheed, the then SNGPL general manager, had promised the employees’ union (CBA) that at least one close relative to each deceased would be recruited in the department. However, the plan met no headway.

The department also decided not to repair any pipeline but to change it if needed, the source added.

Later, the gauge to check pressure and leakage of pipelines was replaced with a computerized system while the assembly-wall station had been reconstructed. The ruptured pipeline was changed and the 16-inch dia pipeline was replaced with 24-inch pipeline up to Peshawar.

On the flip side, the victims have yet to get their compensation. Uncertain of future, one of them had filed a complaint with the federal ombudsman and the decision was in the air till recent past.