LAHORE – There were long queues of vehicles outside the CNG stations and people have to wait hours for getting CNG on Wednesday. The domestic users also suffered badly, as SNGPL totally failed to provide relief to them.
The CNG stations opened after four days continuous closure and there was huge rush at every CNG stations. Many CNG stations could not start service, as the gas pressure was very low for these stations.
The gas pressure also went very low at the homes due to opening of CNG stations, the domestic users complained. The areas having CNG stations faced worst situation. In Township, Faisal Town, Johar Town, Wapda Town and Iqbal Town, the domestic users suffered badly, as there were dozens of CNG stations working in these areas.
The motorists said they have to wait at least half an hour for getting CNG, as there were 50 to 60 vehicles on every station. “I got late from my office, as I had to wait for 45 minutes to get CNG,” said a banker Sadeed Malhi adding he was running vehicle on petrol and it was quite costly. “I have to run vehicle on petrol during CNG closure and I spend extra Rs 1,000 in the last four days,” a business executive Rana Amjad Hussain said.
The long queues of vehicles also created problems for the transport and people living nearby the CNG stations. At many spots the traffic was jammed due to the long queues. At College Road Township there are at least seven CNG stations and each got long queues resulting vehicles was parked at the road.
The drivers have no option but to park their vehicles on road, which resulted in traffic jams. The neighborhoods of CNG stations also suffered badly. “The whole day my main gate was blocked due to long queues vehicles and it created a lot of problem for me. I could not even take out my vehicle from the garage,” said Abid Mehmood a businessmen living next to CNG station.
The domestic users said despite sunshine it was worst day for them, as there was not enough gas to even cook the meal. They said Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) officials claim that gas shortage is due to usage of heaters and geysers but in the recent days, the usage of these items have dropped significantly in South Punjab. In Lahore the temperature rose on Wednesday during day time due to abundant sunshine and usage of heater during dropped but gas supplies remained suspended. “SNGPL has failed to manage load for the domestic users and for the CNG sector.
Now its higher officials should resign from their posts, as these officials are responsible for the load management,” said a CNG owner Siddiq Khan adding how ironic is it that Managing Director of SNGPL is serving for the last nine years and just kept on getting extension despite poor performanceof the SNGPL. The company has been running is billion of rupees losses due to gas theft made by the industries with the help of SNGPL officials. “Of course higher management is aware of it,” SNGPL sources added.
