The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), which earlier announced the opening of CNG stations at 8:00am on Thursday (today), has extended their closure for another 48 hours till Saturday across Sindh. According to a notification issued by the SSGC on Wednesday, all the filling stations in Sindh will remain shut for another 48 hours from 8:00am Thursday (January 21) till 8:00am on Saturday. According to the SSGC, the CNG stations will remain open for 24 hours from 8:00 am on Sunday. It is pertinent to mention here that the CNG stations will remain shut for six straight days during the current week as the SSGC, in its earlier notification, had announced to suspend gas supply to the filling stations from 18 to 23th of January. A day earlier, the SSGC announced reduced supply of gas from its Naimat basal field, saying supply in its system has observed a reduction. “There is a technical fault at the Naimat Basal Gas Field,” the company said in a statement issued on Tuesday. Karachi will witness a shortfall of 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) because of the fault. The SSGC said low pressure has made it immensely difficult to meet the high demand of the industrial and domestic sectors. The statement said SSGC’s line pack has been affected due to low pressure in Karachi, adding that the far-flung areas of the city or those at the end of the company’s network will face the most problem in gas supply. “Efforts are being made to meet the demand of the commercial and domestic users, according to the government’s gas load management policy,” read the statement. “We are trying our best to meet the demand of the commercial and domestic sectors through our gas load management policy.” The shortage in gas supply has affected Saddar, Lyari, Keamari, Lines Area, DHA, Clifton, PECHS and PIB Colony the most.