LAHORE, Dec 13: Domestic consumers from various localities of the city continued complaining about gas suspension or low pressure on Thursday, while the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd authorities have advised them to use the natural resource wisely.

A number of gas consumers from Wapda Town’s D-II, D-III blocks, Sanda, Karim Park, Shera Kot, Misri Shah’s Faiz Bagh and Habib Gunj, Dharampura, Iqbal Town’s Mehran, Kamran and Sikandar blocks, Samanabad’s Janknagar and Islamia Park, Gulshan-i-Ravi and Ichhra told Dawn that they either had no gas supply or very low pressure.

“Gas to our locality has been suspended since Wednesday evening,” said Mrs Qureshi from Wapda Town.

Mr Rauf of Misri Shah, Mrs Shumaila and Mrs Nargis of Iqbal Town and Mrs Parveen of Samanabad also complained about low gas pressure.

SNGPL Managing Director Rasheed Lone told this reporter that the company had neither shut gas supply to any consumer nor was responsible for the low pressure. However, six emergency complaints cells had been established that would work round the clock to redress public complaints regarding low gas pressure in Lahore.

The cells with telephone numbers in parenthesis are Defence (5743729), Ichhra (7569672, 7591565) Multan Road (9260118, 9260119, 9260111), Shahdara (7900153, 7919891), Harbanspura (6531953), Walled City (7664623, 7654868) and Raiwind (04951 390060).

The MD said low temperature, especially at freezing point, had caused condensation of the gas converting it into oil resulting in low pressure. “After draining out the oil, the situation improves.”

He said gas heaters were one of major causes of the whole problem. “If domestic consumers stop using them and strictly abide by the schedule advertised by the company in the print media, the situation will improve a lot,” Mr Lone added. He said at present the SNGPL had 1,850mcf gas per day (24 hours) in its system while the demand was 2,100mcf per day, showing a shortfall of 250mcf.

Last winter, the SNGPL had to meet the shortfall by suspending supplies to some 450 industries, but this year the number might exceed to 650 factories or units. So far, gas supplies to 100 industrial units had been severed. —Staff Reporter