PESHAWAR: Amid the worsening gas shortage, the Peshawar district administration has suspended gas to CNG stations till January 20 to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers.
The district administration has issued a declaration by enforcing Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The statement said, “In order to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers, it has been decided to cut off gas supply to CNG stations. The decision will significantly improve gas supply to domestic consumers.”
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On the other hand, Fazal Muqeem, leader of All Pakistan CNG Association, said that gas the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is producing more gas than its consumption therefore, instead of transferring gas to other parts of the country; the government should first fulfill the local requirements. Fazal Muqeem Khan said that it is “illegal” to impose section 144 on CNG stations.
Earlier, business community had categorically rejected the decision of gas suspension to general industries for one day per week, terming it as ‘unconstitutional’ move and will prove detrimental for the industrial growth, demanding its immediate withdrawal. The businessmen called it a move against the constitutional rights of the province wherein the gas is producing in surplus quantity.
Earlier, on 14 December, the government imposed section-144 and suspended gas supply to CNG sector from 4 pm to 9 am. However, it could not resolve the issue and domestic consumers were still deprived of gas supply.
The Sui Gas Department said that the special control room of SNGPL is monitoring the situation 24 hours a day and now gas pressure is improving in Peshawar City, Jamrud Road, Regi Village, Peshawar Interior City, Ring Road, Hayatabad Township, Warsak Road and Peshawar Cantonment areas.
A petition has also been to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the “unconstitutional” and “illegal” natural gas outages in KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] despite “producing surplus natural gas”. Due to gas shortage, in November, Federal Minister for Energy Hamad Azhar said the government is working to ensure gas supply for breakfast, lunch and dinner times. He also claimed that the government has not increased gas price since 2019