Fuel prices soar as cold wave intensifies

RAWALPINDI:

As severe cold intensifies in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, prices of fuel items including firewood, coal, and kerosene, have surged to record levels in the open market.

Cylinder gas has already moved beyond the purchasing power of the middle class, while coal and firewood — previously affordable alternatives — have now also become unaffordable.

In the open market, coal is being sold at Rs200 per kilogram, dry quality firewood at Rs1,800 per maund, wet firewood at Rs16,000 per maund, and low-quality smoke-emitting mixed wood at Rs1,700 per maund. Kerosene oil is being sold at Rs450 per bottle.

Due to soaring prices, residents of the twin cities have reportedly increased theft of wood from forests.

Citizens are also forced to collect discarded thin wooden pieces from vegetable and fruit markets, goods transport stations, and marketplaces after unloading activities.

Residents Anwar Mahmood and Younis Ali said coal and firewood should not be made expensive for low- and middle-income groups, as they cannot afford gas or cylinders.

They said increasing prices of basic fuel items during extreme cold is equivalent to "dropping a bomb on the poor," adding that firewood previously served both as fuel and a heating source in rooms, a facility now taken away amid harsh weather.