The capital police Friday resorted to baton-charge and teargas shelling to disperse the protesters who were staging a demonstration against gas outages and had blocked the Islamabad Expressway for over four hours. They also set on fire two police armored personnel carriers (APCs).
The gas supply in all different localities of twin cities decreased causing problems for the residents who are holding protests almost daily and blocking major roads including Kurri Road and Islamabad Expressway. On Friday, hundreds of angry residents including women and children, young and old, took part in the protest. The protesters were holding placards and banners inscribed with “restore the gas immediately”. They were also chanting slogans against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL). Heavy contingents of police were deployed to tackle the crowd and the policemen on duty resorted to baton-charge and tear-gas shelling when the protesters refused to end the Islamabad Expressway blockade and instead set two police APC on fire. The protestors burnt tires and used stones and sticks to confront policemen and block the traffic. Hence hundreds of vehicles remained stuck on both sides of the busiest artery between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The protesters chanted slogans against the government and demanded immediate action to resolve the problem. They said this year the Sui Gas pressure problem emerged with the onset of winter and now they are facing full-day outages.
A protestor Shaukat Ali complained that they were faced with the problem for the last several weeks. “The pressure is too low and it takes hours to make some tea. In some areas there is little or no gas but at the end of every month, we receive inflated bills,” he added. Even the stuck up motorists started scuffling with each other, as the traffic police were not there to ensure the smooth flow traffic.
