ISLAMABAD: The gas supply to most parts of the Punjab will remain suspended for at least 48 hours after militants blew up three pipelines near Rahim Yar Khan last night, an official of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) said on Monday.
The banned Baloch Republican Army claimed responsibility for blowing up the gas pipelines.
“This the first time they have blown all three simultaneously,” said Ayub Bajwa, the emergency manager on duty for the SNGPL. “They used to just blow up one here or there.”
The pipelines are large – 24, 18 and 16 inches in diameter. It will take at least two days to repair them, Bajwa said.
Meanwhile, the managing director of SNGPL Arif Hameed said the gas left in the system is utterly insufficient to meet the demand of domestic consumers in the province. He appealed to people to switch off their gas heaters and geysers to save the fuel for cooking.
Hameed said that supply to independent power plants in the province has also been suspended. He added that the restoration work can take up to three days.
