LAHORE: The Lahorites living in the tail-end areas continue to face low gas pressure all the time despite the claims by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited regarding zero gas shortfall after elimination of the gap between demand and supply. The areas facing low gas pressure since start of winter include Township, Shalamar, Singhpura, Kotli Peer Abdul Rehman, Awan Town, Iqbal Town, Gulberg, Model Town, Islampura, Sanda and Gari Shahu.

“There is no gas in our area since the start of the winter and we are using electric heaters and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders to prepare tea and meals,” Sajjad, a resident of Township told Dawn.

“Now it has become a routine matter in every winter. In this situation, we have no option but to use the LPG for cooking,” Afzal, a resident of Singhpura commented.

Besides the low pressure, the people, particularly those living nearby Lahore Orange Line train track are witnessing long gas shutdowns.

“Some days ago, we witnessed a very long gas shutdown after the SNGPL authorities started work on relocating a pipeline due to Orange Line project,” said Sarfraz, a resident of Sukh Nehr (Shalamar).

However, SNGPL managing director Amjad Latif termed the situation comfortable as compared to the last year, claiming that the gas shortfall had been reduced to zero after the gap between demand and supply ended.

“We are receiving around 2,600mmcfd that includes1,100 to 1,200mmcfd of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) from two LNG terminals (Port Qsim, Karachi) and about 1,400mmcfd of indigenous gas. Since the gas demand is also the same, we have no shortfall at the moment,” he explained, claiming that the company was providing gas to all sectors, including domestic, commercial, industrial and the CNG stations.

Mr Latif said supply of sufficient RLNG, including the additional supply of 6,00MMCFD from the second new LNG terminal, was the main reason behind bridging the gap between demand and supply.

APPROVED: The Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) approved two development schemes of irrigation sector worth Rs1.8bn. Presided over by Planning and Development Department chairman Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan, its meeting approved the schemes, namely construction of an underpass along RB Canal at Novelty Chowk, Faisalabad for Rs658m and project preparation, Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Programme (PIAIP) (Extension in Gestation Period for three months from Jan 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018) for Rs1.22bn.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2018