January 28, 2008	Monday	Muharram 18, 1429

MANSEHRA, Jan 27: Domestic consumers and CNG stations have witnessed record low pressure of gas as hundreds of vehicles have been forced off-road due to non-availability of the gas, residents complained here on Sunday.

The corrupt mafia, they accused, had allowed over 40 CNG stations to operate in Mansehra as a result the gas pressure had been dropped.

“When gas loadshedding started at the CNG stations, hundreds of CNG-run vehicles came to standstill without the fuel,” he said.

In most of the areas, commercial and domestic consumers were witnessing low pressure and their gas-run appliances had been extinguished in highly severe cold.

A CNG station owner alleged that the gas crisis in Mansehra were the result of the black sheep in the Sui Northern regional office in Abbottabad who gave CNG connections without considering the fact that they did not have the capacity to fulfil the demand as the pipeline diameter from Hassanabdal to the Hazara region was not sufficient to fulfil the regional needs.