The government has decided to resume gas supply to the CNG sector, Federal Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan announced on Saturday, almost a week since the crisis hit CNG stations in Karachi and left public transport in disarray.
While talking to reporters in Karachi, Minister announced to resume the gas supply to CNG stations from 8 pm.
“We held detailed talks with the CNG association earlier today. I am pleased to announce that we will resume gas supply to the CNG sector at 8:00PM tonight,”
Residents of Karachi, the country’s largest city and main business hub, continued to suffer on Saturday as the CNG crisis entered its seventh day, disrupting public transport and posing difficulties for commuters.
CNG is the main fuel for public transporters in Karachi.
The supply of gas to CNG stations remained suspended for the past seven days, forcing owners to shut down their CNG stations. Only a scattered number of buses, mini-buses, and rickshaws could be seen running on the roads on Saturday.
On Tuesday night, SSGC, the supplier of gas in Sindh and Balochistan, announced to halt gas supply to CNG stations and captive power plants of all general industries.
SSGC said that it was facing acute shortage of gas and low pressure in the system, which was affecting adequate supply to domestic and commercial sectors.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered that boards of directors of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and SSGCL be dissolved owing to the prevailing gas shortfall in the country.
The premier gave directions for stricter action against the gas suppliers, as the CNG crisis continued to disrupt public transport.
A day after ordering a fact-finding committee to launch an inquiry against the managing directors of both SNGPL and SSGCL, the federal government decided to reshuffle the companies’ boards of directors over purported poor performance. On the prime minister’s instructions, the boards of directors of both the companies were dissolved.
