Surviving winter: Short gas, tall prices and long nights
Hira Rasheed, a housewife, said that shortage in the supply of natural gas had forced her to switch to the more expensive alternative LPG. As if that was not enough, she has to pay extra security money for the gas cylinders. She said she finds the situation almost unbearable for a family whose monthly income is between Rs10,000 and Rs12,000.
Currently, one kilogram (kg) of LPG is priced at Rs120-140 in the twin cities. A small cylinder (11.8 kg) of LPG costs Rs1,440 while a large cylinder (45.5 kg) is priced at Rs5,700.
People are often forced to get their food from restaurants as a result of the shortage.
“My work schedule does not allow me to wait for hours for the gas to show up so I can cook meals. All my salary has been drained this month in buying cooked food from outside,” shared Nazish Zafar.
Unlike Zafar, however, many cannot afford to buy cooked food when the supply of gas is short. Naeem Shah, a resident of Adiyala Road, said that his children had to sleep hungry the previous night as he cannot afford to get food from outside.
Observing the irony of the situation, Shiraz Mumtaz, a resident of Satellite Town, Rawalpindi said, “No gas, no electricity, it seems like we are moving back to the Stone Age. Better yet, call it modern Stone Age where we have modern technologies but no basic amenities of life.”
“Considering the current situation it seems like the day is not too far when we will have to go out to collect wood and leaves for fuel to cook food with and keep our homes warm,” he added.
The shortage of gas in this year’s dry winter has also given rise to ill-health amongst citizens of the twin cities. Naseem Jabbar, a housewife said it had become extremely difficult for her to keep her house warm due to the short gas supply, which made her children more vulnerable to flu, cough and high fever.
Talking to The Express Tribune, shopkeepers selling LPG in Islamabad and Rawalpindi blamed suppliers for the price hike, who were allegedly selling it on high rates.
Muhammad Irfan Khokhar, Chairman LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan, said, “The LPG producer cartel
is responsible for the increase in fuel prices. On one hand it is manipulating the prices
of gas and on the other hand it is blocking the move to
import LPG.”
He was of the opinion that allowing the import of LPG would allow the supply to meet the demand and stop the prices from going further up.
The price of LPG has gone up by 750 per cent in the past nine years, he said.
From April 2006 to December 2010 there has been an increase of Rs76,225 per metric ton in the production price of LPG and Rs76.25 per kg, according to Khokhar.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2010.
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