PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) has criticised a proposed gas pipeline from Kot Palak gas field in Drazanda to Punjab. The party termed the move unacceptable, alleging that the constitutional rights of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were being ignored.

In a statement issued on Sunday, ANP central president Senator Aimal Wali Khan expressed concern over what he described as the federal and provincial governments’ failure to prioritise local communities, despite Drazanda in Dera Ismail Khan district being a significant producer of natural gas and oil.

He said natural resources extracted from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should primarily benefit the province’s residents, arguing that the Constitution guarantees provinces priority rights over their resources.

According to Mr Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produces around 500 million cubic feet of gas per day but receives only about 150 million cubic feet for its own consumption. He said laying a pipeline towards Punjab without taking local communities into confidence was against constitutional principles, federal norms and the rights of residents.

The ANP leader said the province continued to face shortages of gas and electricity despite producing more than its own requirements, adding that industries were being closed, investment was declining and unemployment was increasing.

He alleged that the Punjab, despite lower energy production, continued to receive uninterrupted supplies for industrial and domestic consumers.

Mr Khan also accused the federal government of withholding the province’s financial dues from gas and electricity production, alleging that the provincial government was complicit in the continued deprivation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He demanded the immediate supply of natural gas to residents of Kot Palak, Drazanda and other oil- and gas-producing areas of the province, along with the transparent payment of royalties and recognition of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s constitutional rights over its natural resources.

He said the ANP would continue to raise the issue through political, constitutional and democratic forums.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026