When the modules are not available, i have used the following in the past :

my $path_to_gzip = '/usr/bin/gzip';
## gzip -dc is equiv to gzcat
open(INFILE,"$path_to_gzip -dc |") || die "Could not start gzip : $!\n
+";
while (my $line = <INFILE>) {
    ## process data
}
close(INFILE);
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Calm begets calm