Gas supply to cement producer cut off.

The ongoing drive against gas theft undertaken by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has begun damaging large industrial units, one of which has contacted the Prime Minister's Office for immediate relief.

In a letter written by Lucky Cement, a big manufacturer and exporter of clinker and cement, to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the company management highlighted the major shutdown at its northern plant, located in Pezu, Lucky Marwat district, K-P.

"For the past almost four months, we are facing major gas shutdowns at our plant and we have been raising the issue continuously with relevant departments but the situation has gone from bad to worse," stated the letter.

Since the commencement of April, we have experienced almost complete gas shutdown at our plant and in the past 15 days, we have not received gas for more than two days.

The plant was situated in a backward area of the country and the company had no other utility service except for gas to run it, the letter added.

A senior official of Lucky Cement said the gas unavailability had become a major issue, which was threatening the...