BAHAWALPUR: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) claims to have seized and removed over 300 compressors from domestic connections in various localities within a week as part of its campaign against illegal gas extraction equipment.
This was disclosed by SNGPL Regional Manager Malik Bashir Ahmed here on Friday.
Talking to Dawn, he said that the company had launched a vigorous drive against unlawful and unauthorised compressors used by hundreds of domestic consumers to enhance gas pressure during the prevailing harsh weather. On the receipt of complaints, teams formed by the company identified all the illegal compressors.
He said the consumers using the compressors were penalised and their connections suspended. If these people installed the equipment again, they could be blacklisted and their connections would remain disconnected, he warned.
Talking about the complaints regarding low gas pressure in various localities, the regional manager said that with the support and assistance of the company seniors, the gas system in the city and many other places in the region had been upgraded. It had resulted in reduction in complaints of low pressure.
Mr Bashir claimed that more measures were being taken to further improve the gas supply system during the chilly weather.
FUNDS RELEASE: The Punjab Planning and Development Board has released Rs100 million for the Bahawalpur Industrial Estate (BIE), claimed the Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in a press release on Friday.
A letter on behalf of the board had been sent by Mr Rasheed Ahmed Farooqi.
According to the BCCI press release, the planning and development board released the amount to Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company with a directive to carry out development work at BIE.
The industrial estate had been under development for over seven years and the previous Punjab government, led by the then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, could not grant the required funds for it. Local investors demanded completion of development work on the estate at the earliest.
ILLEGAL CURRENCY DEALER: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claims to have arrested a man allegedly involved in the unauthorised hundi-hawala business and foreign currency exchange.
According to FIA Deputy Director Altaf Gauhar Wattoo, a team led by Station House Officer Ghulam Abbas conducted a raid in Rahim Yar Khan on a tip-off and arrested Ghulam Yaseen.
The raiding team also seized 1,100 Saudi riyal, Rs300,000, mobile phones containing contact numbers and messages regarding the illegal trade.
Wattoo claimed that after investigation, more valuable disclosures were expected from the suspect.
Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2021
