Karachi gas outage: Red Line BRT digging hits a high-pressure SSGC pipeline on University Road, cutting supply to Gulshan, Saddar and Garden

Karachi gas supply was cut across Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Saddar, Garden, Burns Road and the areas around Mazar-e-Quaid on Saturday afternoon after excavation for the BRT Red Line damaged a high-pressure Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) pipeline on University Road, near the Gulshan-e-Iqbal telephone exchange. The pipe was hit at about 1pm, just as households were cooking lunch, Dawn reported on Sunday.

What SSGC says

An SSGC spokesperson said the damage happened during BRT construction work, that repair teams reached the site straight away, and that the repair was finished by 5pm, after which "gas supply was restored." Residents in several of the affected neighbourhoods told Dawn that pressure stayed low even after that time.

The cost at home

Families across the old city ended up buying food out. One Saddar resident, Rozina Adnan, told Dawn the gas went off while she had guests at home and the family had to order biryani from a nearby hotel. Restaurants and roadside hotels in Saddar and Garden were packed through the afternoon.

Why University Road keeps causing trouble

The Red Line, the BRT corridor that runs along University Road towards Numaish, has been under construction for years and much of University Road is dug up. Utility lines run under the carriageway, and this is not the first accident on the route: earlier this month a Red Line bridge section collapsed in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, killing a site guard. The Sindh government has since cancelled part of the construction contract to re-award it.

If your gas is off or weak

1. Report it to SSGC through the helpline printed on your bill or the complaint form on the SSGC website, with your consumer number from the bill.
2. Close the stove and heater knobs while the supply is off, so gas does not leak when pressure returns.
3. Smell gas near the roadworks? Keep away, do not light a match or use a phone next to it, and call SSGC's emergency number on your bill straight away.
4. Check your bill. Low-pressure days do not reduce the fixed charge on your bill; our gas bill calculator shows what your units should cost on the current SSGC slabs.

Commuters on University Road should expect the dug-up stretches and diversions to stay in place while Red Line work continues.