PESHAWAR, April 13: Natural gas supply to Mingora and Saidu Sharif will help to protect rapidly vanishing forest resources in Swat valley, according to forest department officials.

The locals get fuel-wood from the forests, which has resulted in rapid deforestation and put a negative impact on the ecology of these areas. Roughly, 1,000 tons of firewood is consumed in the twin towns of Mingora and Saidu Sharif.

The officials claimed that the natural gas supply to the Swat district would curtail this huge consumption of firewood.

Total forest covered area of Swat district is 434,478 acres, while about 17 per cent area is under forest in the rest of the province. The annual consumption of firewood for each household in the province was about 5.6 cubic meters per annum, according to forestry sector master plan.

Chief conservator forest Ghazi Marjan said that average one family used about 25kg fuel-wood in Mingora daily.

He said that after commissioning gas transmission line, over 173,868 people in Mingora town would switch over to natural gas, who at present use fuel-wood, liquid gas and kerosene oil for cooking and warming their houses.

Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company has laid 68 kilometre long pipeline and commissioned the main transmission line to provide natural gas to Mingora and Saidu Sharif. Officials said that 80 per cent distribution work had completed in these two towns.

A Peshawar-based general manager of the company, Imdad Hussain, told Dawn that over 30,000 domestic and commercial connections would be provided in the first phase of the project, which costs Rs380 million.

He said that more than 100 gas connections had been provided in Mingora city and work was under way in other areas of Swat.

He said that the company could not extend gas supply line to other parts of Malakand, including Kalam and Dir district, owing to non-availability of funds.