KOHAT, Aug 28: The provincial government has sanctioned the required funds for the supply of gas to Shakardarra and Karak and the survey for laying pipelines will start next month.

Talking to this correspondent on Saturday, Shakardarra nazim Abdur Rashid Khattak said that Chief Minister Mohammad Akram Khan Durrani had sanctioned Rs40 million for the supply of gas to the Shakardarra town.

The nazim said that the SNGPL would supply gas to areas within three square kilometres of its assembly plant. The plant would be installed to control the gas pressure, he added.

It may be recalled that huge gas and oil reserves were discovered in Shakardarra four years back. The gas supply to Punjab from the Shakardarra reserves started on July 17.

The Karak district, also home to gas and oil reserves, would get the facility soon, the nazim said.

NWFP Industries Minister Malik Zafar Azam, speaking at a public meeting in Karak the other day, had said that the SNGPL would rent land for setting up of a refinery and drilling facility. Land for laying pipelines would be purchased from locals, he said.

The minister had also said that except for the technical staff only local people would be employed by the SNGPL and added that the distribution centre working in the Lachi town would be shifted to Karak.

The minister had announced that a small industrial zone would be established in Karak for better utilization of natural resources like coal, silica and gypsum which were found in abundance in the area.