Villagers forcibly stop work on gas pipeline

KARAK, April 30: The residents of Alwargi and adjacent villages forcibly stopped work on laying pipeline from Noshpa gas field to dehydration plant here on Saturday as a protest against non-provision of natural gas to the area. The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) sought help of government in resuming work when locals, led by members of Alwargi Welfare Committee, stopped them from laying gas pipeline from Noshpa Well II gas field to dehydration plant. However, the enraged villagers threatened that they would let the company to resume work on about one-and-a-half kilometre long gas pipeline till acceptance of their demands. District Coordination Officer Javed Ahmad Khan, Assistant Coordination Officer Manzoor and Tehsildar Arif Khattak along with police visited the area and resumed work on the gas pipeline for some time but locals again stopped it by force. The villagers, led by president of Alwargi Islahi Committee Isam Gul and Maulana Maqsood Gul, gathered at the main road leading to the rigs sites and said that government should honour its promise about provision of natural gas to 18 villages, falling under the radius of five kilometres of gas fields. "Work on the pipeline will remain suspended till acceptance of our demands," they said. They alleged that both federal and provincial governments were not interested in resolution of their problems. The committee members said that on April 10 provincial government negotiated with them through elected representative from the district, Mian Nisar Gul, and promised that their demands would be accepted. But the government failed to honour its promise so far, they said. They said that the cold shoulder response of government to their demands compelled them to stop work on the gas pipeline. They appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the injustices of the oil and gas companies with the local people. The regional coordinator of OGDCL, Mushfiq Hameed Paracha, told this scribe that they made agreements with the landowners and alleged that some outsiders, allegedly backed by MPA Mian Nisar Gul, were creating problems for the company. He said that he had already written a letter to Karak DCO to provide security to the company for resuming work and take action against the outsiders, who had no support of the landowners. Mr Paracha added that main demand of locals was provision of gas and the issue had already been discussed with secretary petroleum during a meeting of the elected representatives of the district with him. He said that the elected representatives of Kohat division would also meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to update him about the problems faced by locals. He said that work on the separate gas pipeline from Noshpa Well II to dehydration plant should be resumed as early as possible. ACCIDENT: A schoolteacher was killed in a road accident and another person was seriously injured here on Saturday. Police said that the motorcycle of the teacher identified as Farid collided head-on with another motorbike at Alikhel Chowk and both the motorcyclists were seriously injured. They were immediately shifted to district headquarters hospital where Farid succumbed to his injuries and the other injured Amjad was referred to Peshawar in precarious condition.