QUETTA: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has launched a ‘winter safety campaign’ to create awareness among the masses about proper use of gas appliances, especially heaters, to prevent loss of lives.

A symposium was arranged on Tuesday at the local press club which was largely attended by ulema.

Its main aim was to create awareness about the safe use of gas appliances, mainly during winters, and to highlight the hazards of natural gas theft.

Maulana Abdul Rahim Hai, Maulana Syed Habibullah Shah Chishti, Taj Agha of Anjuman Tajiran-i-Quetta, Hafiz Mazhar Liaquat, Maulana Dr Ata-ur-Rehman and Maulana Anwar-ul-Haq Haqqani on the occasion said that gas theft was a serious problem in the province, particularly during winter season when gas consumption increased manifold but there was no real change in billing because the propensity to steal gas increased proportionally.

Acting Senior General Manager Saeed Ahmed Larik requested local clerics to educate the masses during religious congregations that gas theft led to imprisonment and imposition of heavy fines.

He thanked the ulema for supporting the SSGC for the last many years because of which there had been a drastic decline in death rate due to accidents. Now users were not so negligent while using gas appliances, Mr Larik added.

He dispelled the notion that gas meters ran fast resulting in faulty reading, adding that the SSGC followed international gas measurement standards.

Deputy General Manager In-charge thanked ulema for participating in the programme and said that serving customers was his top priority.

Ulema praised the SSGC for creating awareness on the safe use of natural gas and also in educating consumers about the menace of gas theft.

They suggested that the SSGC must widen the awareness campaigns to different localities in cities and towns of Sindh and Balochistan.

Maulana Mukhtar Ahmed Habibi, Maulana Abdul Rahim Rahimi, Mufti Ahmed Khan and Maulana Ahmed Raza Qambrani and Abdul Qayyum Kakar were also present at the symposium.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2017