Three main gas pipelines blown up in Punjab
10 February, 2014
RAHIMYAR KHAN: In a major terror hit, three gas pipelines were blown up in the Yousafabad area of Rahimyar Khan on Sunday evening which caused a fire that engulfed the populated area located nearby.
The rescue sources say a woman was killed in the blaze while many cattle were also injured.The outlawed Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the explosions at the point supplying gas to Punjab from Sui, Qadirpur Sawan, Pir Koh and Loti gas fields. According to initial reports, remote-controlled devices were used in the explosions which destroyed three out of the four pipelines within 30 minutes.
The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) officials say the three pipelines had been blown up in a well-planned terrorist act. According to District Police Officer (DPO) Sohail Zafar Chattha, the miscreants targeted the main gas pipelines with planted explosives. The blasts triggered an inferno that covered the nearby fields, while Basti Afzal Hamid Khumbara was evacuated immediately.
SNGPL MD Arif Hamid Khan said the three bombed pipelines were of 24, 18 and 16 inches diameter which supplied natural gas to Rahimyar Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Lahore and Faisalabad. The attack has reduced gas supply to the system by 700 million cubic metres and it is currently receiving 400 million cubic metres gas only.
The SNGPL has asked the consumers to stop using stoves, heaters and geysers because of the alarming decrease in gas pressure, while it would take 24 to 36 hours to complete the repair work. One the other hand, some parts of Punjab are not receiving gas after the blasts, while the SNGPL has suspended gas supply to the CNG sector and industries across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as an emergency step to tackle the crisis.
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