PAKISTAN: Karachi’s natural gas distribution network being replaced from mild steel to polyethylene pipes

Sui Southern Gas Co.’s (SSGC) pipelines in Karachi have corroded and the company is in need of a huge sum of money to replace the rusting network of pipelines, SSGC managing director Khalid Rehman said.

The natural gas pipeline network in the city was laid in 1954 and stretches 16,000 km in length. From the early 1990s, SSGC had a plan to rehabilitate leaky portions and pockets but was only able to cover 20 % of the entire network.

“It’s a Herculean task to replace the pipelines and find leaking portions,” said Saeed Ahmed Larik, the company’s acting senior general manager. “Until now, we have replaced 20 per cent of the 16,000 kilometer distribution network in Karachi from mild steel to polyethylene pipelines.”

Larik insisted that the company cannot undertake the rehabilitation and restoration work on its own. “We need to seek permission from the district government, cantonment boards and other related departments before we take up rehabilitation work,” he explained.  Explaining the process before any rehabilitation can take place, Larik said they make sure through physical surveys of underground pipelines that all factors, including the pipe’s age, number of leakages per kilometer, pipe’s condition, cathodic protection system and line losses are beyond repair and then try to rehabilitate the entire pocket.

For that purpose, the company conducts scheduled maintenance of 3,500 km in a year and can only convert 200 km to 300 km to polyethylene in its annual budget, which he termed limited.

According to Larik, the leakages in SSGC pipelines are due to third party damages to the coating, which results in pipeline corrosion. He added that any other utility service does not cause as much harm as a gas pipeline if it gets damaged since gas bursts with a loud explosion and fire.

As to the deadly gas blasts from faulty pipes, Larik urged people to step up and play their role as active citizens by informing authorities of any gas leak or broken pipe so prompt preemptive action can be taken.

Source: Daily “The Express Tribune”, Karachi; 11 Jan 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)