SIALKOT: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has failed to achieve its target of issuing gas connections to the applicants fixed for the fiscal year 2014-15.
The SNGPL had announced a target of 50,000 new gas connections for domestic consumers during this fiscal year and for which more than 100,000 people had applied for getting new gas connections in Gujranwala Division and all of its six districts Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Mandi Bahaud Din, Hafizabad and Gujranwala. Out of the 100,000 applications, the SNGPL could provide new gas connections to only 12,000 applicants.
The people have expressed grave concern over the alleged poor performance of the SNGPL officials, saying that the SNGPL also could not take effective measures to reduce big number of the pending applications submitted by the people for getting gas connections several years ago.
Several people complained that they had applied for getting new gas connections four years ago in 2011, but they still remain deprived of gas connections, as their applications were still lying kept pending at the office of SNGPL General Manager in Gujranwala. The protesting applicants said that they had become a rolling stone between the offices of SNGPL and GM office in Gujranwala while repeatedly visiting to get gas connections, in this regard.
When contacted, the concerned SNGPL officials said that the SNGPL has started issuing the gas connections to those applicants who had applied in 2011.
They said that most of the applications were found incomplete due to which such incomplete applications submitted by people to get gas connections were rejected. Now, they would have to submit their fresh applications for this purpose despite already waiting for years to get gas connections.