Pakistan: Kohat residents frustrated by gas outages during Ramzan

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 14 : The local residents in the Kohat region of Pakistan have been facing trouble while preparing meals, particularly during Sehri and Iftar during Ramzan due to gas outages and low pressure, Dawn reported. The gas outages have been forcing the people of Kohat to purchase expensive LPG cylinders.

A woman from the city said, "We cannot prepare Iftar because of the very low flames of gas." Meanwhile, residents have also been facing trouble due to excessive electricity load-shedding, as per the Dawn report.

According to residents, the majority of people cannot afford to buy uninterrupted power supply (UPS) at their homes as its price has increased from Pakist Rupees (PKR) 19,000 to PKR 45,000.

Earlier on April 5, Pakistan's Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik said that they cannot give a 24x7 gas supply to the masses, The News International reported.

Pakistan is highly dependent on natural gas for energy and with the rising demand and insufficient supply, load-shedding in the country has become a daily occurrence. The situation has worsened during Ramazan as the residents need gas for cooking and other reasons, particularly during Sehri and Iftar timings, as per the news report.

While talking with journalists in Karachi, Musadik Malik said that the gas load-shedding would end during sehri and iftar. "We cannot provide gas 24 hours as our reserves have dropped," he added, according to The News International report.

The issue of gas load-shedding in Karachi gained the attention of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and he directed relevant officials to ensure an uninterrupted supply of gas. He said the process of supply of gas should be supervised and no negligence should be tolerated, The News International reported.

Due to the widening gap between gas supply and demand, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) announced its decision to suspend the supplies to captive power plants and industries. The gas utility said that the decision has been taken considering the low supply of gas, as per the news report.

It stated that the volume of gas in pipelines had reduced due to a drop in supply. In response, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) called for immediate government action over the shortage of gas supply to Karachi industries, saying the industries could not operate without gas and would be forced to halt production, as per the report in The News International.

Earlier this month, an aggravated gas crisis across Karachi made the life of people miserable as supply remained unavailable even at Sehri and Iftar timings, Dawn reported. Burning wood and costly LPG cylinders were the only options left for domestic consumers due to the gas crisis.

Angry people took to the streets in some parts of the city and spoke against the Sui Southern Gas Company for piling miseries on them during Ramzan, as per the Dawn report. Complaints like very low pressure or no supply of gas at Sehri and Iftar timings kept on pouring in from every known locality of the city.