MULTAN (October 12 2007): The government is providing Sui gas facility to many areas of South Punjab at a cost of Rs 1.311 billion. Sources in the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) told newsmen that under the Khushhal Pakistan Programme a total of 1,138 kilometre gas pipeline was being laid in the region.

As a result, millions of people would benefit from those projects, which were a part of the incumbent government's programme to provide basic facilities of life at their doorstep, it added. Giving details, the sources said, in constituency NA-148 the gas had been supplied at a cost of Rs 4.8 million, while in NA-150 the facility had been provided at a cost of Rs 1.22 million.

President Pervez Musharraf had announced the provision of gas in February 2005 for 14 different localities in constituency NA-151 and the same promise has been fulfilled at a cost of Rs 70.9 million.

The sources maintained that six schemes were being completed with an expenditure of Rs 155.971 million in NA-156, the constituency of minister of state Raza Hayat Haraj. In NA-157 over 126-kilometre long pipeline has been laid with an expenditure of Rs 105 million while in NA-158 the gas pipeline of 24 km length has been laid at a cost of Rs 123 million.

In NA-159 constituency a sum of Rs 60 million has been spent to lay 33 km long gas pipeline while in NA-162 an amount of Rs 30 million is being spent to lay 37 km long pipeline.

The sources said that other National Assembly constituencies whose population will benefit from the gas supply schemes include NA-163, NA-170, NA-171, NA-172, NA-173, NA-176, NA-177 and NA-178. It is pertinent to mention here that these gas projects are also being executed in the constituencies of women legislators like Maimoona Hashmi, Tahmina Dusti and Begum Nasim Chaudhry. The districts benefiting from these schemes mainly include Multan, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Rajanpur, DG Khan, Vehari and Muzaffargarh.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2007