The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) has announced new 96-hour gas load shedding schedule for industries of Faisalabad region, which will be implemented from January 30 (Sunday morning) and will continue till February 3 at 06:00 hours. Meanwhile, gas supply to 380 CNG stations remained suspended on second consecutive day here on Saturday, posing severe problems to the commuters.
Due to gas load shedding and low pressure, people including labourers, and daily wagers faced huge problems and remained jobless because productions of factories and power loom units had halted. Salamat Ali, Chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA) North Zone, said that textile production activities in export-oriented and labour-intensive value-added textile industries were badly affected.
After 96 hours, SNGPL had restored the gas supply to the industries on Thursday morning, but due to low pressure at Maqbool Road, Abdullahpur and other parts of the industrial city, industrial activities were not restored. He said that during January 2011, SNGPL had provided gas to the factories only for seven days in the month. Power looms owners were not getting the sized yarn beam from sizing factories for starting production of cloth, while huge stocks of cloth were piled up in the premises of the textile processing and printing mills, where gas is not available.
Power loom units were not using gas directly but thousand looms remained closed due to breaking of the textile chain, he added. Resultantly, he said, due to prolonged gas shedding hundreds of labourers, most of them daily wages, suffered from gas load shedding as they have been left penniless, struggling to generate income from other ways.
He said that four to six days' suspension of gas in a week had badly affected the production of export items and textile industry is under sheer pressure. It may be recalled that the directives of PM Yousaf Raza Gilani and CM Shahbaz Sharif regarding gas supply have become fruitless, he added.
In a press statements, Muhammad Saeed, Regional Chairman, All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association, Shahid Razzaq Sikka, President Anjuman-e-Tajran Faisalabad City said that the industry of Punjab had badly suffered due to massive gas load shedding during last three months. First time in the history, which shows that gas suspension to the Punjab industry is a well planned conspiracy, Sikka added.
He said that industrial activities were already frozen because of mismanagement and unfriendly course of action of the present regime while the worst gas shortage threw more fuel to the fire, he added. He pointed out that the Punjab Chief Minister contacted Prime Minister who announced 5-day gas supply to the Punjab but implementation of decision was not seen.
He said it was also decided that a uniform policy with regard to load shedding of gas will be implemented throughout the country but only Punjab was facing this problem which is sheer injustice and violation of provincial rights, he added. Labour unions also expressed grave concern over the prevailing situation, which is generating unemployment and poverty in the province.
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