BAHAWALPUR: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SGNPL) claims to have seized more than hundred gas compressors being illegally used to get better gas supply and removed over 400 gas meters in a month in the Bahawalpur region.

According to Regional Manager Belal Asghar, the company’s teams during a crackdown on illegal use of gas in the last month carried out hundreds of raids to detect such consumers.

He said the officials severed the connections of violators by removing their meters, which would be restored only after payment of heavy fines and penalties, adding that they would also have to give an undertaking that they would abide by the rules in future.

Mr Asghar said it was second major crackdown in the region as during earlier raids hundreds of compressors were seized by the SNGPL teams.

The regional manager added that in order to improve gas supply a number of measures were being taken, including the lying of another 14km-long underground gas pipeline costing over Rs1.3 million.

PBC SALARIES: Over 5,000 regular and temporary employees of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) have not been paid their salaries for the month of December across the country.

A number of regular and contractual employees of the Radio Pakistan’s Bahawalpur station told Dawn that due to nonpayment of their December salaries by the PBC, they and their families were confronting a lot of problems.

They said the PBC had some 3,000 permanent employees, besides contractual and daily-wage workers, on its payroll and none of them had been paid the salary for December, 2022.

The temporary employees had also not been paid salary since the month of November, they regretted.

PBC Bahawalpur Station Director Dr Javed Iqbal confirmed non-payment of employees salaries for the month of December, claiming the PBC high-ups were making efforts for early payment of the dues.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2023