Electricity, gas shortages grip Pakistan as winter intensifies

Every year, the citizens of Pakistan experience serious gas scarcity during the winter season, which has grown to be a serious issue for the Pak government. The problem has gotten worse as the costs of wood and coal have doubled this year in the neighboring country  

Several media reports point out that gas is no longer available in major cities like –Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The gas load shedding in these cities has raised concern in residents of Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, Multan, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi as the demand for LPG and firewood has surged drastically during the winter season.

As per Pakistan’s local media, Sindh produces about 62 percent of the gas in the country and gets only 38 percent for itself. On the other hand, Punjab produces only 3 percent of gas, but consumption is 52 percent. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produces 15 percent and the consumption is only 7 percent. Gas production in Balochistan is 13% higher than consumption, which is only 2% higher.

Residents of Gharibabad in Qalat are dealing with load shedding, tripping, low voltage, and irregular supply of Sui gas field, and that too for a very short time. Furious over the gas and electricity shortage people staged a massive protest against the government, Intekhab Daily reported.

To gather the government’s attention, people came out on the roads and blocked a national highway due to which the traffic flow of Karachi-Quetta was badly disrupted.

In November, people burned a transformer in Gharibabad as it was not repaired or replaced by the authorities, reported the vernacular media.

Last month, Pakistan Petroleum Division told a parliamentary panel that there was no option but to natural gas rationing in the winter season in view of the increasing shortage every year, Dawn reported.