Sindh CNG stations open after 58-hour long shutdown

KARACHI: The long lines of vehicles seen on Sunday morning after CNG stations opened in Karachi and other parts of Sindh after 58 hours long shutdown, ARY News reported.

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) announced shutdown of compressed natural gas (CNG) stations across Sindh on Saturday (yesterday). The company’s spokesman said the decision had been taken to fulfill the demand of domestic and commercial customers.

The gas crisis has aggravated in Sindh as SSGC managing director on Saturday said that the gas shortfall has reached to 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) due to cold weather.

The gas company chief urged industries to close the factories in industrial zones two days in a week due to gas crisis.

The industries’ bodies refused to accept the gas company’s demand of two days’ off in a week. The industrialists, however, have assured the gas utility that all seven industrial zones will be completely closed on Sunday.

The gas consumers, particularly domestic users are suffering across the city due to crisis. It is also low gas pressure that has made it near impossible for people to cook food or heat water in cold weather.

Several city areas of Karachi including Lyari, Old Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Orangi, Korangi, Malir, Liaquatabad, North Karachi, Clifton, Defence, Dehli Colony, Cantt and other localities suffering in frosty winter due to load shedding of gas.

Both industrial and domestic consumers had complained of low pressure of gas in most parts and unannounced suspension of gas supplies in some areas since last several weeks. The irony is that the authorities in charge of supply fail to acknowledge the problem.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah lamented on Friday that the province had been deprived of its due share in gas supply.

He said he had written another letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, demanding that the province be provided its constitutional rights.

“Sindh has been producing 2700 to 2900 million cubic feet (mmcfd) gas per day. If the province gets gas as per its demand, it can produce cheaper electricity,” the chief minister said. “At present, we are being provided less than 1200 mmcfd gas.”