Winter crisis

The crisis associated each year with the acute shortage of gas has worsened dramatically as winter has set in the north of the country. According to the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Resources, the country currently faces a shortage of over 200 million cubic feet a day, notably in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The shortage is also now beginning to affect the south of the country and Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd has stated the problem could grow. As Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd had warned months ago, this year the problem seems to be more severe than ever before. We have already seen growing protests in various cities of Punjab where gas-shedding of up to 14 hours is being reported in smaller centres. For Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other major cities SNGPL had announced shedding from  9pm to 5am. But many consumers report that gas pressure remains low all through the day. The cold spell being experienced in parts of Punjab has exacerbated the low gas pressure and brought more people to a point of panic.

The use of compressors by householders to pull gas out of pipelines at a higher rate has been reported in many places and SNGPL has said strict legal action would be taken against those responsible. However, this does not ease the burden of families who have had to turn to LPG cylinders, kerosene, firewood and coal to meet basic cooking and heating needs. As would be anticipated, the prices of these items have risen sharply by up to 10 percent above set prices. Kerosene, the fuel of the poor, is being sold at over Rs100 for one litre against the set price of Rs43. For many families the burden placed on them by this inflation has created growing unrest within households and communities. In Islamabad where temperatures are now close to the zero degree mark, residents of various areas are threatening to take to the streets. In other towns such as Chakwal they have already done so in an attempt to draw attention to the situation they face. With the winter only just closing in, there is apprehension that the situation could worsen in the coming weeks. The government needs to take a long hard look at the distress people are facing. Given that our reservoirs of natural gas are dwindling rapidly, we need to think about major policy decisions. This would have to include proposed projects such as the Iran-Pakistan pipeline. Steps need to be taken to offer respite to people, and as a preliminary measure at the very least the inflation in the prices of alternative fuels and also stoves used with kerosene or wood need to be checked to prevent further hardship.