The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) office at Multan Road is not accepting new applications for gas connections with an excuse of power failure, whereas, the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) said there is no power failure in the area, Pakistan Today has learnt. According to sources, SNGPL officials do not accept any application from consumers saying that there is no electricity and the computer is not working. Electricity is closed during peak working hours at 9am and restored after 3pm. SNGPL officials said that they could not process the applications, as there is no power for computers. The practice is continuing for the last five days and consumers are facing problems. LESCO sources said that there is no six hour closure at Multan Road and routine closure of one to two hours are observed during office hours.
“We never close electricity continuously for six hours in any area of the city,” said a LESCO official adding that if technical repairs are supposed to be carried out then the process takes a day or two. “In our schedule, electricity in the city is not closed for continuous six to seven hours for technical repairs and in the last five days, there is no such activity,” he added. A SNGPL official, seeking anonymity, said that the company did not want to take applications these days and adopted a lame excuse. Consumers said that since Monday, SNGPL officials have not accepted any application over excuse of suspension of electricity. Consumers said that there is no fee for depositing the application but even then some unauthorised people have contacted them and offered the service of depositing the application.
“I have been visiting the office for the last three days but every time the employees present in the SNGPL office at Multan Road gave the excuse of power closure,” consumer Rahab Khan said adding that in this digital age, the SNGPL did not have any alternate for consumers. Another consumer Jameel Ather said that a person present outside the office contacted him and offered services for depositing the application. “The man asked me to give him Rs 1,500 and he can deposit it for me,” Ather said adding that getting a gas connection has become a Herculean task.