Amid shortage, CNG stations in Pakistan's Sindh, Balochistan to remain shut till mid-Feb

Amid a massive shortage of compressed natural gas (CNG) in Pakistan, the Imran Khan administration has decided to cut gas supply to all CNG stations across Sindh and Balochistan. This move will be effective till February 15, 2022.  The widening gap between demand and supply has forced authorities to take this decision, Geo TV reported

The supply of natural gas was cut off to CNG stations on Wednesday at 8 am. Amid scarcity, this decision was taken to accommodate the domestic households as the season of cold sets in. 

"In adherence to Govt. of Pakistan's approved Gas Load Management Plan, that places domestic and commercial customers on top of the gas sectoral list, it has been decided to suspend gas supply to all CNG stations across Singh and Balochistan," Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) tweeted.

The CNG supply to non-export Captive Power Plants (CPPs) in Balochistan and Sindh has also been discontinued. "Gas supply to fertiliser sector and zero-rated export industry including its CPPs will continue," SSGC added.

According to Geo TV, gas load-shedding has been a major problem in Pakistan. Sometimes it spans for 18 hours in various cities in the country, it added. To add more burden, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline has requested authorities to hike gas prices by 150%.

Pakistan: Auditor detects massive irregularities in COVID expenditures

Apart from this, Pakistan has also been plagued with corruption. Recently, the country's Auditor-General Javaid Jahangir detected massive irregularities in the Imran Khan administration's COVID expenditure. 

The report on "expenditure incurred on COVID-19 by the federal government" detected irregularities of up to PKR 5.24 billion in the purchase of sugar, ghee and wheat flour. It also pointed to a loss of $9,94,000 on account of the purchase of ventilators at surged prices. It also accused the Pakistan government of non-transparent procurement of COVID equipment from China. However, the Pakistan Cabinet has rejected the report.

Chaudhary said that the Ministry of Finance has already rejected the audit report and the "Ehsaas programme in charge and PM’s aide Dr Sania Nishtar had also clarified the position of her organisation." 

(Image: Representative Image/PTI/AP)