Low gas pressure adds to domestic consumers' woes

Low gas pressure has created manifold problems for domestic consumers with the advent of winter in the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad. People from different walks of life talking to Business Recorder said that despite closure of CNG stations for three days a week, domestic consumers are facing low gas pressure, which makes it difficult for them to even cook two times meal.
People urged the government to make necessary arrangements for increasing pressure at the earliest otherwise low gas pressure would create more problems for the public during the peak winter season. They said that it is the duty of the government to provide public all the basic facilities, including gas.
"Despite closure of CNG stations for three days a week, there is no improvement in the gas supply," they said. Muhammad Rafi Awan a private college teacher said that it would be difficult in the peak winter, as non-availability of gas would create more problems for them. He said if the government couldn't provide us with the basic facilities then it should stop collecting taxes and utility bills from the public.
He said that despite the closure of CNG stations they are facing low gas pressure. He said that gas pressure remains the same during the closure of CNG stations. He said that the authorities should come up with a permanent solution and provide gas to domestic consumers.
"The situation is worrisome, as we don't have electricity, gas, water and CNG," he added. Price-hike and inflation has also created many problems for the low-paid employees, as they are hardly meeting their daily life expenses. As a result the residents have started using Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to cook meals while some are compelled to use firewood as fuel for cooking.
On the other hand, the tandoor owners are overcharging the residents as people throng to these outlets to buy bread following low gas pressure. People also complained that Sui-Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) was issuing wrong bills to consumers containing incredibly high charges, ranging in thousands of rupees for a household meter.
Similarly CNG stations of the twin cities of Rawalpindi/ Islamabad are also witnessing low gas pressure, leading to long queues of vehicles on the stations everywhere. Meharban Ali a person waiting at a CNG station for refill, said: "I am waiting for four hours and all this is because of low gas pressure and people fear the problem may aggravate in days to come."
Central chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA), Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said that their business had suffered a lot owing to low pressure and three-day gas shedding for the CNG sector. He was of the view that long queues of consumers` vehicles had become a routine matter at the filling stations. Similarly, he said that the CNG price was higher having minimal difference with petrol. Besides gas load shedding, zero gas pressure, higher utility bills and overall inflation had adversely affected the business of CNG industry, he observed.