January 24, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1423

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MULTAN / QUETTA, Jan 23: Gas supply to Punjab and upcountry could not be restored late on Thursday night as the damaged pipeline caught fire after being repaired because the gas pumped into it with pressure burst the repaired part open.

The supply to the 30” dia pipeline had to be suspended yet again at the source.

The gas supply had been suspended to Punjab and upcountry on Tuesday evening after a rocket attack on main pipelines by tribesmen near Rajanpur.

Supply lines of 24” and 30” diameters of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines were blown away in Doli area of Rajanpur reportedly in an exchange of fire between Mazari and Bugti tribes.

A total of 280-foot long part of both the supply lines was damaged in the attack which rendered most of Punjab and the NWFP without gas.

The SNGPL technicians reached the troubled spot on Wednesday evening and were initially able to repair the 24” pipeline.

According to an SNGPL source, gas was finally pumped into the 24” line by midnight on Thursday.

While the 30” pipeline, the repair of which was taken in hand on Thursday morning, was declared fit to be commissioned by SNGPL engineers by afternoon.

But soon after gas was released into the pipeline, the repaired part caught fire and supply to the 30” dia pipeline had to be suspended once again.

When contacted at 1.30pm, officials at the gas control centre of the SNGPL in Faisalabad said that repair work of the 30” pipeline would start again on Friday morning.

Therefore, the affected areas, especially the industrial units, were without gas until Friday night.

It is learnt that the SNGPL had closed its AC-zero compression station in Sui due to the lack of pressure.

To restore supply to its original position, a pressure of at least 800 pounds PSI (per square inch) is needed, and the pressure after the restoration of supply through the 24” pipe was only 450 PSI, which was being exhausted up to the company’s AC1-X compression station near Sadiqabad.

However, the company was trying to restore supply to the CNG stations any time by midnight.

CURFEW LIKELY: Night curfew is likely to be imposed in Sui township following a series of explosions in Sui and Rajanpur in recent days disrupting gas supplies to many parts of central and Northern Pakistan, official sources told Dawn from Sui Township late on Thursday night.

The authorities are expected to make an official announcement in this regard sometime later on Thursday night or next morning.

“We have suggested to clampdown a night curfew in the area to protect vital installations,” a senior official in the local administration said adding that final decision in this connection is expected on Friday.”

A decision had already been taken to adopt very tough security measures to protect the gas pipeline passing through the sensitive tribal territories from where tribal clashes were reported more frequently.