Following growing number of complaints of low natural gas pressure especially for the domestic consumers, a special meeting has been convened here on Saturday.
The meeting to be chaired by Leader of the House in Senate Nayyer Hussain Bukhari is taking place after frequent questions pertaining to the issue in the Senate during the ongoing session, a source said.
During the session several members of the upper house stressed the need for making an effective strategy to overcome natural gas related issues for the domestic sector.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has taken notice of the low gas pressure in certain localities of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, increasing gas supply to these areas, an official source said.
As part of such relief-oriented measures, the supply of gas had been increased from 192 mmcfd to 244 mmcfd for the domestic consumers to overcome low gas pressure problem in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the source added.
The source dispelled the impression that some sectors were being neglected in gas distribution, saying the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural was not favouring any sector in provision of natural gas.
The official said government was under no pressure to favour fertilizer sector, adding the supply of natural gas was being continued to avoid shortage of fertilizer in the market at this crucial time when farmers were in dire need.
However, he appealed to the general public to adopt conservative approach regarding consumption of natural gas.
Meanwhile, these days certain areas are facing problem of low gas pressure, forcing the residents to use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to cook meals while some are compelled to use firewood as fuel for cooking.
“A delegation from our town met the SNGPL authorities to resolve the low gas pressure issue but our efforts yielded no results as we are still facing the same problem”, Usman Khan, a resident of Ghauri Town said.
Similarly, residents of other areas near Khanapul have also shared the same observations, saying they had to wake up in wee hours to cook breakfast.
“We have to rise around 5 am to prepare breakfast and it has been an every day practice as the natural gas pressure goes down later”, Mir Janan, a taxi driver complained.
Similarly, the I-10/2 sector is also going through the same ordeal of low gas pressure.
“No gas appliances in our houses run such gas heaters, geysers etc, we use firewood to cook meals and even the tandoors. owners have hiked up rates, given such pathetic situation”, said Zahida Bibi a housewife.
