‘Centre deliberately depriving Sindh of gas’

The Centre has been deliberately depriving Sindh of gas, alleged Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Friday, holding Federal Energy Minister Omar Ayub responsible for the commodity's shortfall faced by the province.

In a statement issued on the day, the provincial minister accused the federal government of violating Article 158 of the Constitution, which, he said, stated that a province had the first right to use a resource it produced. When the province's needs are met, then the resource may be supplied elsewhere, he added.

The minister lamented that Sindh was facing a gas shortage despite generating 68 per cent of Pakistan's gas.

"Sindh produces 2,200 mmcfd gas, against its need of 1,700 mmcfd," he said, adding that it received just 900 mmcfd to 1,000mmcfd.

The federal government has been unable to meet Sindh's gas needs and that was why the gas crisis was worsening in Karachi and the rest of the province, he remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2020.