GUJRANWALA: The Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) severed on Wednesday more than 100 domestic and commercial connections on the charge of using compressors and took their meters into custody.

SNGPL Chief Engineer Fazl Miran Bhinder told Dawn the company had been receiving complaints that many consumers were using compressors for increasing gas pressure at their houses and commercial units. He said the rest of the consumers were suffering due to extremely low gas pressure and were holding demonstrations against the SNGPL.

He said the company launched a special campaign against compressors and constituted 20 teams. The teams raided various parts of the city and its suburbs and detected the compressors. The teams severed gas connections and took their meters and other equipment into custody.

He said the campaign against use of compressors by domestic and commercial consumers would continue throughout the division without any fear or favour.

M e a n w h i 1 e Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Khwaja Khalid Hasan, CNG Station Owners Association Vice-President Raza Hameed, Ceramics Owners Association President Muhammad Amin and Furnace Association leader Anjum Pervaiz have protested against the gas suspension for three months.They said the suspension had rendered hundreds of workers unemployed while production of their industrial units dropped by 70 per cent.

According to the office-bearers, they could not afford financial loss as their export orders were being cancelled.

P R O P E R T I E S SEALED: The excise and taxation department sealed on Wednesday as many as 50,000 domestic and commercial properties for non-payment of tax and warned that the properties would be auctioned if the owners failed to clear outstandingduesbyDec30.

Senior Excise and Taxation Officer Ms Fiza Shah said 12 teams comprising excise inspectors had been deployed for recovery of property tax from defaulters. She claimed that teams had made a recovery of Rs190,000 from defaulters in a day.

B L O O D TRANSFUSION: The Punjab government on Wednesday accorded approval to establishment of a district blood transfusion bank in Gujranwala for better health facilities to patients while the health department directed the DHQ administration to provide at least two kanal land for the purpose.

According to reports, the health department secretary sent a memorandum to DHQ administration for arranging land in the same hospital for the construction of blood transfusion bank as the chief minister had already approved the project for provision of better healthfacilities to patients.