Daily Times

KARACHI: Delay in supply of natural gas to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling stations by Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has tarnished the utility’s reputation among its commercial and industrial consumers in Sindh, particularly the metropolis.

SSGC promised that it would restore natural gas supply to consumers by Saturday morning but no steps were taken by the relevant authorities to restore the city’s gas supply till Saturday evening.

After a six-day-long hiatus in CNG supply, commuters queued up outside fuel stations in anticipation that CNG service would be restored on Saturday morning but their efforts went in vain because the supply remained disrupted all through Saturday.

It is worth mentioning that Federal Minister for Petroleum, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, in a meeting on Fridayhad assured the stakeholders that the gas supply would be reinstated on Saturday.

The SSGC had stopped gas supply to CNG sector across Sindh province for an indefinite period. However, it was later discovered that Sindh’s gas was being supplied to Punjab. Other than Karachi, CNG supply also shut down in Hyderabad and other parts of Sindh. Public transport facilities also remained disrupted during this duration.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister, Murad Ali Shah termed natural gas closure in Sindh a violation of Article 158 of Constitution. He said that it had rendered thousands of industrial workers and transporters jobless and had also serious problems for domestic consumers.”The SSGC move is against Article 158-B of the Constitution,” said Sindh Transport Minister Syed Owais Qadir Shah in a statement. “The federal government has no right to suspend supply to CNG stations in Sindh which produced the largest quantity of gas.”Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Shaikh also opposed the federal government’s decision to stop gas supply to captive power plants and said that it was bound to increase unemployment.

Reportedly, some gas stations tried to generate CNG from gas supply in parts of Karachi early on Saturday morning but SSGC issued them notices bearing instructions that they were not to resume operations before Saturday afternoon.

Gas supply would soon be restored in province: petroleum minister

Earlier on Saturday, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan promised that the gas supply would soon be restored in Sindh. He also said that CNG supply in the metropolis would be restored by Saturday evening. Addressing a press conference jointly with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail in Karachi, the petroleum minister assured citizens that CNG supply would be restored by 8 pm on Saturday and industries across the province would receive 50 percent of their supply on Sunday (today). “Maximum possible relief would be provided to the CNG sector in the coming days,” he vowed.

Published in Daily Times, December 16^th 2018.