Last year on July 7, the Honourable President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf made an announcement about a gas supply project for the residents of Murree and its adjoining areas. He announced the new project while addressing a public meeting at Lawrence College, Ghora Gali.
The Honourable President set the target completion date of the project as October 2006. The Board of Directors and the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority supported the project whole-heartedly. However, the work was completed well before the scheduled time, through astute planning, sheer determination, dedication and exceptional hard work, despite extra-ordinary steep, rocky and hilly terrain. Commissioning of line was carried out in the presence of Managing Director, Mr Abdul Rashid Lone on 18th May, 2006.
The total length of 12" diameter, Rawat - Murree transmission line is 58 km while distribution supply mains were completed with a total length of 17 km. Pipeline was completed at an approximate cost of Rs 350 million against the allocated budget of Rs 428.139 million by ensuring better financial controls.
This is the first time in the history of pipeline construction in Pakistan that any gas line has been constructed at such a high elevation. The serpentine pipeline route, the rocky and hilly terrain, the movement of heavy construction equipment eg dozers, cranes, trucks etc, mobilisation of men and equipment against the elevation of more than 6000 feet above the sea level was a demanding task.
On tope of it, transportation and stringing of line pipes to the top of the hills was not less than a Herculean job. Trenching and lowering of welded pipe on steep slopes through thick jungle was something extra-ordinary considering the resources available. The crossing of Soan River, Ling Drain, and the road and railway crossings were tough challenges, but all these hurdles proved too fragile against the rock-like courage and determination of the construction teams.
The impediments like permission from Forest Department to remove thick jungle en-route, the land issues raised by the land-owners were overcome amicably to keep the smooth pace of work. Construction of Murree line has brought the gift of natural gas to its residents, which will bring prosperity and boost economic activity all around. It will have long lasting positive effects on the environment through preserving the trees, which were used locally for fuel. Another hallmark of this line is that it was completed without any fatal or major injury despite the tough terrain.
The construction of Rawat - Murree line has added exceptional experience to pipe line construction teams and has brought in confidence among the Company's human resource to undertake even more difficult and challenging jobs in future.
PROJECT-IX (2006-2008):
The basic objective of Project-IX is to absorb additional gas available from existing and new sources viz Gurguri, Rodho and Zamzama and gas sources of Potohar region through system up-gradation with loopline and compression facilities enhancement. The Company will take up Project-IX during the years 2006-2008. It will be executed in two phases. The Phase-I (Advance Action Plan P-IX) will include the construction of 140 km, 24" diameter Gurguri-Kohat-Nowshera line.
This Project will revolutionise the economic scenario of NWFP by making the province self-sufficient in terms of energy requirements. The study on 2nd phase has also been finalised and shall be submitted to the competent authorities for their approval.
GIS MAPPING CENTRE:
In recent years Geographical Information System (GIS) has played an important role in the collection, integration, manipulation and analysis of earth's surface data. Complex maps can be created and edited much faster with GIS than would be possible by hand, and because the data is stored digitally the maps are reproduced with the same level of accuracy each time.
Based on specialised hardware and software, these technologies have become time saving tools for development and monitoring applications for all kinds of engineering and environmental projects especially for management of natural resources and many other sectors.
Keeping pace with the latest technological developments, SNGPL has adopted this GIS mapping for planning and development for its gas transmission pipeline projects and distribution mains network in association with M/s NESPAK.
SNGPL is also carrying out GIS mapping of all of its existing length of 6,200 kilometers of gas transmission pipelines and 42,000 kilometers of distribution gas mains network. In GIS maps of its distribution network all the characteristics and spatial data like roads/streets, locations of all Sales Meter Station (SMS), Town Border Stations (TBS) / District Regulating Stations (DRS), including all technical details of gas mains and associated valves and fittings will be indicated for ease of operations and maintenance. It would also help in saving of time required for development work.