LAHORE – The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), fulfilling its commitment of providing gas to industry for two days a week, has restored supply to the first zone of industrial cluster in Lahore and Sahiwal. However, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has severely criticized SNGPL for their failure to restore supply of gas to re-rolling mills despite a promise on Jan 23rd.
On the other hand, SNGPL said that after the curtailment of a month, the supply of gas for Punjab-based industrial units was restored on Monday, as a notification in this regard was already issued on Sunday.
“The industries in Punjab have been divided into four zones and the SNGPL would supply gas to industrial units for two days a week with rotation.” said the SNGPL.
According to the notification, the industry located in Lahore city, Multan Road and Sahiwal would be supplied gas on January 23 and 24. Industrial units in Sargodha and Faisalabad would be provided gas on January 25 and 26. Muridkay and Shaikhpura based industry would be supplied gas on January 27 and 28 while on January 29 and 30, the industry in Multan, Gujranwala, Islamabad and Bahawalpur would be benefitted with the gas supply.
In a statement issued after receiving a number complaints from Re-rolling Mills Association, the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser sheikh and Senior Vice President Kashif Younis Meher if the SNGPL authorities had kept their words, over 3to 4 lakh workers attached with this industry would have not been sitting idle and without work today.
“It is very disturbing that the people came to their jobs in the morning and after a few hours they were asked to go back as gas could not be restored.”
The LCCI office-bearers urged the President and the Prime Minister to play their due role and direct the concerned authorities to restore gas of steel industry without any further delay and save near half million of workers and their families from starvation.
The LCCI office-bearers said that around 40 per cent of the industrial units in Punjab run on gas and gas suspension means no production by almost half of the industry in Punjab and a loss of billions of rupees to the exchequer.
They said that the ‘discriminatory attitude’ of the government was not only denting its goodwill and reputation but had also put a question mark on its ability to manage and govern things. They said that the units in Sindh were getting an almost uninterrupted supply except a two- to three-hour loadshedding depriving the industries in Punjab of level playing field.