FAISALABAD - Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has started gas loadshedding for four days in the region from Thursday morning (today), resultantly more than 600 industries including textile units would be closed again after working of three days.
Commenting over the prevailing situation of textile industry, Chief Coordinator and former Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (North Zone) chairman Ch Salamat Ali disclosed that SNGPL had provided gas to the industries only eleven days during the last 75 days, which is an attempt to shatter the export-oriented textile industry and economic murder of the thousands workers.
He said that industrialisation plays an important role in the economic growth of a country that earns foreign exchange and also provides jobs to a large number of professional, technical people and labour force, but in the absence of basic factor of production like gas, industrial productivity and efficiency is greatly hampered.  A shock has been given to the economy by halting gas supply as the industrial productivity has been badly suffered, he added. He pointed out that shortage of gas and 6 to 8 hour loadshedding of electricity in the region is on rise that will increase number of more sick industries, whereas, Pakistan badly needs investment to run the wheel of the economy.
Ch Salamat Ali mentioned that the energy crisis would not be solved for closing eyes only. He urged the govt to take industrialists and investors into the confidence for chalking out a universal decision of gas loadshedding across the board, he added.
He strongly demanded that government should ensure supply of gas to industries for five days to avoid troubles in the production process. He demanded uninterrupted gas supply to textile industry being the most important economic post of the national economy.