KOHAT, June 3: The elders of the Lachi town have threatened to use force to stop the work on the Gurguri-Nowshera pipeline, if an official announcement is not made by June 10 for providing gas to the area.

The threat came at a protest meeting which was held here on Sunday under the chairmanship of former MPA Iftikharuddin Khattak.

Mr Khattak said they would take over the local office of the Hungarian company, MOL, if the federal government failed to give a final date about the supply of gas.

Dr Fana said the government had been supplying gas to Punjab since 2003. Pipelines were being laid up to Dera Ismail Khan, but the towns and villages from where the main supply lines passed, were being ignored, he added.

The elders asked the elected representatives of the area, especially MNA Mufti Ibrar Sultan, to resign if they could not get sanctioned gas supply to the area.

Naib nazim Lachi urban and some councillors also addressed the meeting.

Meanwhile, a similar warning had been given to the MOL the OGDCL by the Khattak Ittehad of Karak.

The MOL had discovered huge reserves of gas and oil in the Guguri area. The sites, known as Manzali 1 and 2, have gas reserves of more than one trillion cubic feet.