KARACHI, May 11: The Sui Southern Gas Company has changed its CNG stations closure schedule for the convenience of participants in a Pakistan People’s Party rally being held in Kammoo Shaheed in Ghotki on Saturday, sources told Dawn on Friday.

According to the new CNG closure schedule, all CNG stations in Karachi will remain closed for 24 hours — from 9am on Saturday to 9am on Sunday.

Replying to a question, an SSGC official, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a ‘request’ indeed had been made by certain quarters to not to close CNG stations in the rest of the province because that would affect the movement of activists planning to attend the PPP ‘pro-democracy’ rally.

The PPP-led government has claimed that its rally would be a huge show of strength in response to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led opposition rallies.

Some observers, however, said that it was unusual for a public utility to oblige certain quarters for furthering their political objectives.

Concerns were also expressed in Karachi by many stakeholders on keeping CNG stations closed.

They demanded that Karachi being the economic hub of the country should have been exempted from the CNG stations closure so that business activities could continue comfortably in the city and the country could prosper.