Cooking crisis: Gas shortage continues in the summer

Citizens resent the extra expenditure on fuel alternatives in times of skyrocketing inflation

KARACHI:

Where most citizens in the country anticipate a gas supply crisis during the winter months, those in the port city face a cooking conundrum throughout the year, as an unwarranted shortage of gas has disrupted the lifestyles of millions.

Despite the change in weather, the gas shortage crisis plaguing Karachi’s population has continued unabated and thousands of low-income households are struggling to cook meals at home. Resultantly, they have to either buy costly hotel bought food or invest in pricey Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for their survival.

“This year gas load shedding has disrupted our lives even during summer since many houses do not have gas from 1 in the afternoon to 6 in the evening,” revealed Mehak, a resident of the FC area, who could no longer prepare tea and bread for her family during mealtimes.

Similar to Mehak, Samiya, another homemaker, with a family of four, resented the added stress on her budget due to incessant gas shortages which compelled her to purchase bread from the local hotel.

“When gas is not available, I have to buy bread from the nearest restaurant twice a day, which costs almost Rs 4,800 per month,” shared Samiya, who felt that working class citizens could not afford such extravagant expenditures on bread alone since their salaries remained meagre.

While some like Mehak might be capable of adjusting their monthly budgets to purchase store bought bread, others like Ikram, a fruit vendor, cannot afford the pricey food item even after working relentlessly for 12 hours a day.

“My daily wage is anywhere between Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500; hence I cannot afford bread from the hotel. When gas is not available at home, we have to set up a wooden stove for cooking bread and curries,” said Ikram, who claimed to have purchased low-quality wood for Rs 350.

However, unlike Ikram, some citizens are investing in pricier fuel alternatives like LPG which greatly disturbs their household finances. “I earn Rs 30,000 per month and have a family of 4 to feed. Due to constant gas shortages, I had to take up a loan to buy an LPG stove cylinder worth Rs 3,500,” informed Salman, an employee at a private company.

Khalid, a shopkeeper selling LPG stoves and cylinders, confirmed the spike in sales of the cooking fuel alternative. “Due to the load shedding of gas, the sale of LPG cylinder connected stoves has increased manifold,” he asserted.

Speaking to the Express Tribune on the matter, a source from the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) denied the reports which claimed that announced and unannounced load shedding of gas was taking place in most parts of the city.

“There is a gas load management plan, under which gas is stopped in different areas at fixed times. Our topmost priority is to provide gas to our domestic consumers on time and we are taking steps towards achieving that goal,” claimed the official.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2023.