QUETTA: With the onset of winter, the shortage of gas starts to dry pipelines across Balochistan and the people suffer extreme problems.
The situation is getting worst every year with long-standing issue not being addressed and resolved. In the urban center of the province, Quetta, complaints regarding gas load-shedding, depleting pressure, overbilling, and gas leakage are not new.
Subsequently, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), which supplies natural gas to the country, blames the consumers for gas theft through meter tampering.
Therefore, the News360 team carried out a fact-based investigation to dig into the matter that resurfaces every year and compiled a report.
A Grade-IV employee, Abdul Ghani, who lives in a rented house on Saryab Road recalled an incident with him.
One day, he returned home after job and found his gas meter missing on the wall. Later, he learned that SSGC officials had removed the meter and were now demanding Rs 70,000 as a fine to return it.
This went hard on Ghani and his house is still without a gas meter as he could not afford to pay the penalty. The government employee now has to use wood to cook food.
Bushra Shaukat is an Assistant in Civil Secretariat and lives in the Nawan Kali area with her three children, husband, and mother-in-law. She said that the winter season in Quetta was no less than a challenge.
She added that low gas pressure during the cold season make them face extreme difficulties in preparing food. “the flame in the stove during winters is equivalent to that of a candle”, Bushra told.
Even on the days when pressure restores to normal, the neighbors draw significant quantity using gas compressors.
Another area in the provincial capital is Saryab which has seen many protests and demonstrations against gas shortage.
Ahmed Nawaz Baloch, who was elected as an MNA from the area on Balochistan National Party (BNP) Mengal ticket, said that gas was a basic requirement just like water and food.
He spoke in support of the protests and said that the locals would have no option other than to protest if their gas supply lines would remain dry.
MNA told that the Balochistan assembly several times demanded concessional gas tariff and usage limit during four months of the winter season. But, he lamented that neither the federal government nor SSGC took it seriously.
“The industries across the country progressed using gas from Balochistan but the people of the province are still suffering”, Nawaz said.
Regarding gas theft, MNA maintained that it could not be done without the involvement of SSGC officials.
Akbar Nautezai, who is a correspondent for Quetta for an English newspaper, said that the gas crisis in Balochistan was also an issue of political thought and it has a background besides matters related to payment.
He cited that prevailing thoughts such as ‘ Balochistan’s natural resources have been looted and the locals have lost control over them” has inflicted damage to the company’s performance.
The journalist said that a particular group has penetrated in the administration such that it benefitted from incentives owing to which the people have to suffer problems.
SSGC General Manager Madni Siddiqui also talked to News360 on the long-standing issue.
He said that 70 percent of the gas in the country was produced by Sindh while 15 percent was produced by Balochistan.
He told that no new gas fields have been discovered over the past many years. Siddiqui said that Balochistan was supplied 1,300 cubic feet of gas daily until a few years earlier. However, it has now been reduced to 1,050 cubic feet.
The official said that the company received up to 4,000 applications for the installation of new gas connections due to the increase in population and businesses. However, Siddiqui said that due to old infrastructure and narrow pipelines, it becomes difficult to supply gas with full pressure during winters.
SSGC officials disclosed that only 40,000 meters in Quetta calculated actual units consumed and generated proper bills while 160,000 gas meters show very low or no reading allegedly due to tempering.
Regarding fast-running meters, the official said that no other company than SSGC developed gas meters in Pakistan and the company did not make any such devices.
He said that the company was only tasked to supply gas while the tariff was fixed by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).
Siddiqui accepted that ensuring uninterrupted and full pressure gas supply in winters was thus a challenge for SSGC.
However, another task for the company was to create awareness among the people regarding the dangers associated with gas compressors used by a large population to overcome low pressure.
The gas crisis is a complete story, not just a tale. However, it represents a portion of the energy crisis in the country against which the voices could be heard from every corner of the country.