Sui Southern Gas Company, known as SSGC, on Wednesday announced its gas supply schedule for the winter season for domestic consumers in Sindh and Balochistan, effective immediately, in line with federal government directives.
Gas will be available during three cooking slots each day. The first slot runs from 6:30am to 9am, covering breakfast. The second runs from 12 noon to 2:30pm, covering lunch. The third runs from 6pm to 9pm, covering dinner.
Together, the three slots provide eight hours of gas supply a day. The remaining sixteen hours of the day fall outside the scheduled supply, leaving domestic consumers without scheduled gas for that period.
An SSGC spokesperson told Dawn that the schedule covers domestic consumers in Sindh and Balochistan, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta. The four cities named — Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur in Sindh, and Quetta in Balochistan — are among the areas covered, alongside other domestic consumers in the two provinces.
The utility said it was managing gas load effectively this winter and ensuring a steady gas supply as per federal government directives, prioritising household cooking. The emphasis on household cooking explains the timing of the three windows, which are set around the main meals of the day.
The schedule is effective immediately, meaning that domestic consumers in Sindh and Balochistan are now receiving gas under the three-window arrangement. The announcement on Wednesday set out the timing that applies from that point onwards.
For the past several years, the utility has not provided round-the-clock supply to domestic consumers during winter, citing shortages. The current schedule continues that pattern, with supply limited to set hours rather than available throughout the day and night.
The shortages cited by the utility are the reason given for the limited hours. Winter demand, set against available supply, has led in previous years to the same kind of restricted schedule, and the current announcement follows that approach.
No end date for the schedule has been published. The announcement sets out the hours of supply but does not state when the winter schedule will come to an end, leaving that point open.
The same three windows have been reported for SNGPL areas, covering Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad. That means the pattern of supply — 6:30am to 9am, 12 noon to 2:30pm, and 6pm to 9pm — is reported for the other gas utility’s areas as well.
For households in Sindh and Balochistan, the practical effect of the schedule is that cooking must be planned around the three windows. Breakfast, lunch and dinner each have a slot, and outside those hours there is no scheduled supply.
The morning window, from 6:30am to 9am, lasts two and a half hours. The midday window, from 12 noon to 2:30pm, also lasts two and a half hours. The evening window, from 6pm to 9pm, lasts three hours. Together, they add up to the eight hours announced.
The utility’s statement that it is managing gas load effectively this winter and ensuring a steady supply as per federal government directives is the official account of how the winter arrangements are being handled. The prioritisation of household cooking is presented as the guiding principle.
The schedule, issued in line with federal government directives, applies to domestic consumers. It does not, on the reporting available, set out arrangements for other categories of consumers, and the announcement is framed around household use.
The absence of an end date means households do not yet know how long the three-window arrangement will remain in place. The schedule is described as the winter season arrangement, and it is effective immediately, but its duration has not been published.
The pattern of recent years, in which round-the-clock winter supply has not been provided, provides the context for the announcement. The current schedule, with its three cooking windows and eight hours of supply a day, continues that approach for the winter now under way.
Source: Dawn
