Gas holidays in Punjab have been reduced from three to two days after Pakistan People’s Party’s main ally, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, extended its political patronage to All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA).
A notification issued by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on Thursday said that in Zone I, which includes the Potohar region from Attock to Jhelum and in Faisalabad and Bhawalpur regions, gas supply would remain suspended from 6 am Thursday to 6 am Saturday. While in the Zone II which consists of Lahore, Gujranwala, Shaikupura, Sahiwal and Multan, the supply would be stopped from 6am Monday to 6am Wednesday.
A source said a meeting between APCNGA and senior minister Pervaiz Elahi a few days back resulted in the resolution of many issues faced by the association. The representatives of the association would meet Secretary Petroleum Ejaz Chaudhary on Friday where the political push behind their demands will be provided by the PML-Q.
“After a meeting with the APCNGA, the government will most likely reduce the gas holidays to one day for the remaining days of Ramadan,” the Chaudhary said while talking to reporters. The source said the APCNGA was pushing for one day and a half day holiday till December.
Pakistan’s gas supplies have decreased to 4 bcfd against the demand of 6 bcfd. Since the natural gas is the most economical fuel in the country ever sector wants to get more gas supplies to meet their demands. Small investors have invested heavily in the CNG during the last decade and now more than 3 million vehicles run on CNG. But since they lack political clout unlike other influential business groups which even managed gas allocations during winters and most of the gas load shedding was shifted to the fertilizer and CNG sectors.
Due to the gas shortages, the CNG sector in the densely populated Punjab was the most affected as the province produces very little amount of gas and the gas supplies mainly come from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The flexing of the muscles by APCNGA warning the government that it would go on an indefinite strike against load shedding and unjustified price hike caused awe in the government on their political prowess. Closures of CNG stations in Punjab alone could cause a wheel jam in the country. The sector alone helps save $ 4 billion annually in the fuel import bill that increased to $ 12 billion during the last fiscal year.
Most of the investors in the CNG sector are close to PML-Q as the sector flourished during former president Pervaiz Musharraf’s rule while the PPP and PML-N consider them to be their rivals since they yield considerable political influence at the local level. The source said that the patronage by PML-Q would make things easier for APCNGA and the government would be under pressure to reduce gas holidays and to divide the load shedding to all sectors.
