QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has expressed serious anger over the failure of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to ensure full gas pressure in Quetta and other parts of the province considering the biting cold that has gripped the entire province for the last several days.

The people of Quetta and other parts of Balochistan have been experiencing biting cold as temperatures have dropped to minus 10 to 15 degrees centigrade in different parts of Balochistan, forcing the people to opt for whatever means available to them to warm themselves to beat the freezing cold.

A father and his five children died on Sunday when the father tried to lit a gas heater which was switched off due to low gas pressure but kept releasing some gas in the Satellite Town area of the provincial capital.

The accumulated gas in the room triggered a blast when the father again tried to lit the gas heater, killing all the family members.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, the chief minister expressed his sorrow and deep grief over the gas blast incident which claimed the lives of a father and his five children.

Mr Bizenjo said that people were facing serious problems of low gas pressure and gas supply suspension due to negligence of SSGC top officials who were not taking the issue seriously and the matter was resulting in deaths of innocent people in the province.

“Due to gas leakage, precious lives are also being lost and citizens are being forced to stage protests to highlight the problem,” the chief minister said.

He ordered the provincial secretary of energy and the Quetta commissioner to immediately meet SSGC officials and inform them about the Balochistan government and its people’s concern over the issue.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2023