PESHAWAR, Oct 11: Delay in work over 1.2km section of gas pipeline is causing loss to the government as pipes worth over Rs10 million have been rusting in the open in Hazarkhwani area of the provincial capital for around two years.

The communication and works (C&W) department and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) blame each other for the delay.

Complaints of low gas pressure are common in Peshawar’s inner parts, especially during winter.

To solve the problem, 28km pipeline of 18-inch diameter has been laid from Taru, Nowshera to Hayatabad, Peshawar in 2009.

However, the 1.2km section couldn’t be connected to the newly-laid gas pipeline along the Ring Road near Hazarkhwani for improving supply to the city due to objections raised by the C&W department, according to official sources.

When contacted, Executive Engineer Development, SNGPL, Peshawar Inamullah Yousufzai said that before the start of work on the gas project in 2009, a work plan was submitted to the C&W department for a no-objection certificate while demanding money for repair of damaged roads.

In response, the C&W department demanded Rs289,000 from SNGPL for road repairs after laying the pipeline on Hazarkhwani Road.

Mr Yousufzai said a cheque of the sought-after money had been submitted to the C&W department, which returned it saying the price of material used for road repairs had escalated.

“We’ve repeatedly asked them (C&W department) to give us fresh demand of the money but to no avail until now,” he said, adding that on Monday last, he had sent a fresh reminder to the C&W department to prepare and give them a fresh demand of money.

He claimed that the 1.2km pipeline could be laid within a week if the C&W department gave NOC for it.

The relevant sub divisional officer of the C&W department, Riazullah Khan, said his department had stopped work on the pipeline for being an unauthorised act.

He denied that SNGPL had applied for any NOC for the project and said: “We have not received any request for NOC for laying gas pipeline in Hazarkhwani.”

Mr Riazullah said SNGPL often laid pipeline without securing the C&W department’s mandatory approval and thus, damaging the newly-constructed roads.

Officials in SNGPL contested the SDO’s assertion and said if he claimed to have received no work plan from SNGPL, then how did the C&W department come up with a bill of Rs289,000 for road repairs. They showed a copy of that bill to Dawn.

Meanwhile, Mushtaq Ahmad, a resident of Hazarkhwani, regretted delay in the gas project and said that gas pressure in the area was low even before the start of winter.

He said that low gas pressure coupled with frequent power outages had made their lives miserable.