Sindh protests with Centre over gas shortage

Sindh energy minister wrote a letter to federal energy minister, saying people of Sindh were forced to use wood

KARACHI:

The Sindh government on Saturday protested with the federal government against a persistent gas crisis in the province, saying that the Centre was depriving the province of its Constitutional right enshrined in Article 158.

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh wrote a letter to Federal Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, saying that the people of Sindh were forced to use wood, coal and cylinders at homes, while the province’s CNG sector had been closed for two months, taking away the jobs of tens of thousands of labourers.

In the letter, Shaikh demanded of the Centre to discontinue the gas supply from Sindh’s wells to other parts of the country and divert the supply to the domestic, industrial, commercial and CNG sector consumers of the province.

He asked the federal minister to direct the SSGCL to provide the required supply to the province, adding that if the gas utility was unable to manage the distribution, the Sindh government was ready to take over it in the larger public interest.

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“Although, shortage of gas [in Sindh] is a regular feature since last few years but the gas shortage this winter has set in so badly that after complete closure of CNG sector and most industries in Sindh domestic consumers, too, are facing extreme hardship,” the letter said.

“The province which produces over 2/3 of the total natural gas in the country has been facing a situation where households are without gas to cook food, industries are shutting down because of huge shortage and low gas pressure and CNG stations are closed for months to come,” the letter added.

Shaikh said that because of the gas shortage, the people were opting for the alternate sources, like burning coal, wood and LPG cylinders for cooking. However, due to increased demand, the prices of the alternate fuels had also gone up by 50%.

“With the all-time low Purchasing Power Index in current months people are currently opting for cheaper light sheet cylinders and stove cylinders for LPG usage, risking their lives for catching fire and explosions,” the Sindh minister said.

He warned that household unrest was increasing and the people were agitating, which could create law and order situation. On the other hand, he added, export-oriented industries were losing businesses by failing to meet export commitments.

He warned that the situation was leading to mass unemployment in the province. “This is seriously hurting the economy of the province and the country,” Shaikh said, adding that he feared “much graver situation in the month of January 2022 and beyond”.

Shaikh reminded Azhar that Sindh produced about two-thirds of the gas in the country. In the presence of a clearly-worded Article 158 of the Constitution, he added, there was no justification for people of Sindh to face shortage of natural gas.

The Article 158 explains priority of requirements of natural gas. It says that the “Province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that well-head...”

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“The residents of the province have a first right to this gas. It is an irony that Sindh is currently getting less than 750 MMCFD system gas from M/s SSGCL which has also unilaterally reduced the gas supply to Karachi city from average 560 MMCFD during November 2021 to 440 MMCFD in recent days,” he said.

He added that natural gas form gas wells in Khairpur, Ghotki, Kandhkot and Dadu were still flowing to other parts of the country at the cost of Sindh. It was unconstitutional to supply gas to SNGPL network from Sindh when the province was in dire need of it, he said.

“I therefore request you to please discontinue supply of natural gas to SNGPL from the wellheads located in Sindh and divert such gas to domestic, industrial, commercial and CNG sector consumers in Sindh by recognizing their constitutional right and provide them immediate relief,” Shaikh said.

The Sindh minister asked the federal minister to direct the SSGCL to take measures to fulfil the gas requirements of Sindh as per Article 158 of the Constitution. “In case SSGCL fails to manage the gas distribution / allocation, the Government of Sindh offers to take over SSGCL immediately, in larger public interest, to run this important institution lawfully and as per constitutional provision,” he said.