PESHAWAR: The residents of many semi-urban and rural areas of the provincial capital have said that they been facing 10 hours gas loadshedding for the last one month.

They said that prolonged gas loadshedding made their life miserable.

`Gas loadshedding in the winter season is understandable because of increase in its consumption but its outage for the entire night in the summer season is astonishing,` several consumers told Dawn.

The areasfacing gasloadshedding include Hazarkhwani, Ghari Atta Mohammad, Dir Colony, Tor Baba area, Bahadar Kallay, Achar and Garhi Hayat Khan, etc.

`The gas disappears at 9pm and comes back at 7am,` Saleem Khan, a resident of Ghari Atta Mohammad told Dawn.

He said that they faced problems to cook something in the absence of gas.

`My children go to school without taking breakfast,` he said.The business of the bakers (tandoorwala) in these areas is also affected by the gas loadshedding.

`We don`t know the logic behind the hours-long gas loadshedding,` a baker on Ring Road told Dawn.

He said that they didn`t have gas to cook bread at the peak hours of their business. `In the absence of gas, we have to cook breads with the help of cylinders,` he said.

When asked about the reasons for loadshedding, a senior official of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines response was very short. `The consumers in such areas are involved in unprecedented gas theft,` he said.

The of ficial, working on an important position at SNGPL, said that as per policy they could provide gas to domestic consumers for only six to eight hours.

Asked why the company was not taking action against the consumers involved in gas theft, he said that many consumers were caught and fined heavily.

`However, it is beyond our capacity to search the people involved in gas theft everywhere,` said the official.

The consumers rejected justification of SNGPL for gas loadshedding, saying it should take action against the gas thieves instead of awarding collective punishment to people.

A resident of Dir Colony said thatthey paid bill on proper time. `The SNGPL officials of the respective areas know everyone, who is paying bill and who is involved in gas thef t, he said.

He said that high-ups of SNGPL also know as to why their subordinates were not taking action against the consumers involved in gas thef t.

MPA Fazl Ilahi, whose constituency faces the unprecedented gas loadshedding, told Dawn that people of the area were being punished for voting for PTI.

`You know gas connection couldn`t be given without the technical staff of the SNGPL,` he said. He alleged that SNGPL officials were involved in providing illegal connections to people.

The MPA said that he would meet the general manager of SNGPL on Thursday (today) in that connection.

He said that he would lead a protest procession, if gas loadshedding was not stopped after his meeting with the general manager. `I will lock the office of the general manger and he would be responsible for any untoward incident,` he added.

SNGPL General Manager Arbab Saqib Khan was not available for comments when this scribe made telephone calls on his official number.

His personal assistant also didn`t allow this scribe to meet the general manager at his of fice.