Pak: KCCI appeals govt to restore gas supply or production units will shut

Karachi [Pakistan], April 5 : The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has made an appeal to the government to restore the gas supply else the manufacturers will shut down their production units automatically, reported Urdu Point.

In response to Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik's remarks that the masses cannot get gas 24/7, KCCI President Muhammad Tariq Yusuf appealed to the Government to issue strict instructions to restore gas supply to all industries in Karachi immediately with full pressure, otherwise the manufacturers will have no option but to shut down their production units automatically.

Meanwhile, Site Association of Industry Karachi (SAI) President Riazuddin has strongly condemned the suspension of gas supply to industries and their Captive Power Plants (CPPs) and requested the Federal and Provincial Governments to take action in this difficult time. He stated that immediate notice should be taken to the serious situation created by Southern Gas Company and uninterrupted gas supply should be immediately restored with full pressure to the industries in the site area, according to Pakistan vernacular media, Urdu Point.

Notably, an aggravated gas crisis across Karachi, particularly over the past days of Ramzan, has made the life of people miserable as supply remained unavailable even at Sehri and Iftar timings, Dawn reported.

Burning wood and costly LPG cylinders were the only options left for domestic consumers due to the gas crisis. A couple of days ago, angry people took to the streets in some parts of the city and spoke against the Sui Southern Gas Company for piling miseries on them during Ramzan, as per the Dawn report.

Complaints like very low pressure or no supply of gas at Sehri and Iftar timings kept on pouring in from every known locality of the city. The gas utility's complaint service, 1199, seemed not accessible. The people who could connect to the complaint service were told by the attendants that they did not have any information regarding any scheduled or unscheduled load shedding in any part of the city.

People also wrote about prolonged load-shedding in Karachi on social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook.

The gas utility had assured people that gas would be supplied during Sehri and Iftar timings during the month of Ramzan. In some regions, like Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Gulshan-i-Iqbal, gas was supplied during these timings, however, the pressure remained low.

The Sindh Energy Minister said that the gas production from Sindh was between 2,700 to 3,000 mmcfd, as per the Dawn report. However, the SSGC was providing less than 900 mmcfd to the province. He said that they have taken up the matter with the concerned authorities but to no avail. He added that the provincial government will again raise the issue with the federal government.

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