Out of gas

The gas crisis, the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi admits, is far graver this year than the previous year. The shortage has crippled millions of homes, notably across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Although the minister says the crisis is acute, nothing seems to have been done at all to bridge the gap. The people’s desperation can be seen in the protests staged in many cities of Punjab. People say that they literally have no fuel for kitchen work or to meet other basic needs such as staying warm. The minister has claimed that the 300,000 gas connections provided over the past year is one reason for the more severe shortage. He has also said LPG is being imported, but is intended only for industrial use and comes at a far higher price than the natural gas piped into homes. People had hoped that this year, with gas not being provided to the commercial sector, the situation in homes would be better. But this has not been the case. The increase in power loadshedding, as canals are shut down for winter repair work, has added to the problems of people. Rural areas face the longest hours without power.

We have then reduced our people to living in the dark, dank winters of the north without even being able to prepare food or meet essential needs. The budgets for households have risen sharply as gas cylinders are purchased by those who can manage them or food procured from outside the home. Abbasi has said the situation in Sindh and Balochistan was better, but people in these provinces too complain of reduced gas pressure. The SSGPL officials say this is due to a dilapidated, ageing pipeline infrastructure, with lines in a state of ruin and unable to deliver gas efficiently. They say increasing supply could lead to pipes collapsing. Notably in Punjab, the use of devices to draw in more gas by consumers is said to have worsened the situation. This is a crisis we have now faced year after year, one winter after the next. We need to find a way to solve it quickly. The pipeline deals involving Central Asian countries and the one with Iran may eventually help, but can people wait years for these to deliver? That is the question the government and officials running the gas companies need to ask themselves.