KARACHI:
In the last few years, the winter season has become a nightmare for citizens across the country due to gas load shedding. This year gas outages began before the season started. In 2020, the Chief Minister of Sindh wrote a letter to the former Prime Minister demanding that the province be given its due share of gas. As per Article 158 of the Constitution, Sindh’s requirements should take precedence as it produces 68% of natural gas in Pakistan.
The frequent and unscheduled gas outages have increased difficulties for consumers. In a bid to lessen the effect of the crisis, the SSGC decided to halt gas supply to the industrial sector with many industries receiving notices of gas closure for up to three months. This will affect the industrial output harming the province’s economy as well as compel industries to temporarily lay off workers. Across Karachi, people have resorted to gas cylinders to fulfil daily domestic chores. Resultantly, prices of gas cylinders are skyrocketing; the risks of using cylinders are also worth considering. People have to rely on food from restaurants, which is usually overpriced, unhealthy, and not affordable for low and middle-income families.
Had the federal government procured additional liquified natural gas and made timely allocations to provinces, the current crisis would not have had such a severe impact. The Ministry of Energy should initiate gas projects with countries like Russia and UAE along with exploring other viable options. It must formulate a long-term strategy to avoid the annual crisis.
Nimra Malik
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2022.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
