Governor Kundi calls for urgent action to improve gas supply

PESHAWAR
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi was given a detailed briefing by officials of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on gas supply, ongoing development projects and key challenges across the province.
The briefing was attended by General Manager Waqas Shinwari, Regional Manager Karak Kashif Naveed, Regional Manager Abbottabad Rehmatullah Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan Incharge Waqas Rustam Gandapur, Acting Regional Manager Mardan Rehan Khan and other senior officials. Officials informed the Governor that SNGPL operates four regions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, serving around 367,000 consumers in Peshawar, 310,000 in Mardan, 205,000 in Abbottabad and 148,000 in the Karak region, which also covers Bhakkar and eight other districts.
The meeting was told that the province-wide gas network replacement and upgradation programme had significantly reduced line losses from 21 percent to 13 percent. Officials said overall gas consumption had also declined following the decision to stop industries from generating electricity using natural gas. The Governor was informed that action against gas theft was continuing while new gas pipelines were being laid in Peshawar, Namak Mandi, Hayatabad, Chaghar Matti, Charsadda and other areas to improve consumer services.
Officials said the gas pipeline infrastructure was already available in the Dera Ismail Khan Small Industrial Estate to support industrial development. The briefing further revealed that since 2016, SNGPL had repeatedly offered the provincial government a proposal to generate low-cost electricity from gas, but little progress had been made over the past decade.
Expressing concern, Governor Kundi stressed that the project deserved immediate attention and urged the provincial government to take practical steps for its implementation to ensure affordable electricity for the people.