PESHAWAR: The low pressure of natural gas has irked consumers in parts of the provincial metropolis, forcing them to demand of the federal government to take notice of inability of local officials of SNGPL to ensure smooth gas supply to them.

With the advent of winter, the problem of low gas pressure, being faced by domestic consumers, gets aggravated. The consumers said that they were unable even to prepare tea and food for themselves and used to send their children to schools without breakfast.

The residents of Peshawar Saddar including Abdur Rasheed, Kamran, Faizan, Danish, Aaqib Shehzad, Amjad Ali Khan and Lala Ashraf in a joint statement on Wednesday said they were subjected to prolonged gas loadshedding on daily basis while on each Friday gas supply was completely suspended for unknown reasons.

The consumers said that they were payingmonthly gas bills on regular basis but supply of gas to their houses was next to nil.

They said that inhabitants of Fawara Chowk, Grain Market, Mohalla Ahle Hadis and Mohalla Qazi were facing the worst kind of gas loadshedding. They were left with only option to use firewood or LPG cylinders for cooking, they added.

The consumers said that cylinders and firewood were costly and poor people were unable to afford its price. They said that commercial and domestic gas lines should be separated and domestic connections should be given from main line passing through Sher Shah Suri Road.

The consumers said that the problem aggravated during the past one year when work was initiated on replacement of a supply line but the issue still persisted. The gas supply, they said, was suspended every day at 6am till lam.

Similarly, the residents of Defence, parts of Hayatabad Township, Bara Gate, Hazar Khwani, Shaheen Colony, Swati Phattak, Gulberg and Umeedabad have also complained against low pressure of gas and demanded of Managing Director Arbab Saqib to personally take interest to resolve the problem.

Mohammad Ashraf Ali of Shaheen Colony said that they were forced to buy bread frommarket owing gas loadshedding. He said that most of the people bought LPG cylinders but it also became costly during the past some weeks. `We are residing in rented building and there is no arrangement for using firewood,` he added. Hameedullah Qazi, another consumer, said that complaints about nonavailability of warm water were very common in Umeedabad and Nasir Quarters areas.

An official at SNGPL Hayatabad office said that work on gas supply to Gulberg, Swati Phattak and adjacent areas was in progress.

He said that it took time as Cantonment Board officials were avoiding issuing NOC for the purpose.

About low gas pressure at Defence, he said that it would remain for sometime because Ogra was yet to approve another supply line to the areas of Warsak Road, Defence and Charsadda Road, etc.

The official expressed the hope that Ogra would approve the supply line in the new fiscal year. However, he rejected the complaints about gas loadshedding. He said that there was no loadshedding of gas but low pressure was caused due to winter and multiple connections on single line. He said that growing population was causing shortage of resources in allareas ofthecountry.