FAISALABAD, Feb 5: Textile industrialists have decided to meet officials of the Petroleum Ministry and the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) regarding the gas and electricity crises.

A decision to the effect was taken on Tuesday at a meeting of the industrialists held in Khurrianwala, the area where most of the big textile units are operating.

A source said two delegations, comprising industrialists and textile exporters, would go to Islamabad and Lahore for meetings with the authorities concerned. They would try to convince the officials to resume gas to all without any preference.

He said if talks remained inconclusive, then industrialists would close down their units as a protest.

Hearing about the meeting of the industrialists, he said, district nazim Rana Zahid Touseef also joined them and assured them of his full cooperation to resolve the issue. The nazim promised to arrange their meetings with all the respective authorities and asked them to refrain from street protest.

The source said businessmen called an impromptu meeting as gas supply was suspended on Tuesday again without any schedule. He said they tried to contact the officials concerned, but nobody turned up.

Talking to Dawn, the district nazim said he also protested over the current crisis of gas supply and supported the industrialists.

Meanwhile, former chairman of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), Khurram Iftikhar, said gas supply was partially restored to the units. However, the supply was again suspended on Tuesday without any intimation. He said businessmen were losing export orders owing to the energy crisis.

A couple of days ago, textile exporters had staged a protest demonstration outside the PTEA office. They discontinued the protest after assurance of gas supply restoration.