Daily Times

The debilitating gas shortage severely affecting all walks of life in Punjab is the most recent example of successive governments’ inability to outline an effective plan to manage the depleting resource. Punjab is now witnessing such drastic cuts in gas supply that many domestic consumers are taking their case out onto the streets in angry protest because a majority of the public is unable to heat their homes, have hot water or even cook food. That this is a harsh winter is no secret. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited’s (SNGPL’s) Managing Director, Mr Rasheed Lone, has announced that the gas supply to factories and CNG stations in Punjab is to be halted “indefinitely”, which is bad enough but for him to compound the situation by blaming domestic consumers for “extreme usage of gas heaters and geysers” is deplorable given the freezing conditions. It is unbelievable that the public is being burdened with what is ultimately the government’s lack of planning in this respect.

It is common knowledge that winter escalates domestic gas usage each year. Why, in all this time, has the government failed to develop any sustainable projections for gas availability and demand so that the problems we see today could have been dealt with in a timely and effective manner? Instead of planning long-term strategies to overcome the inevitable hardships, new housing colonies and societies were steamrolled into development and supplied with gas. Pervaiz Elahi, during his stint as Punjab’s Chief Minister, made all rickshaws run on CNG, after which most domestic vehicles were converted to CNG for which a plethora of pumps were opened. These examples of infantile vision have come back to haunt us as now there is no gas for the industrial, commercial or domestic sectors. Our all-important textile sector has pretty much shut down — and the people are freezing to death in their own homes. To add to the people’s woes, the Karachi Electric Supply Company and the Sui Southern Gas Company are in dispute over gas supplies, extending the hours of load shedding in Karachi. Who is responsible for this amongst the general fiasco?

Now the Punjab government and the centre are engaged in useless blame games. Much-needed planning and alternative solutions are still not being contemplated. With such a mega shortfall, one shudders to think what we will face in the coming years. The Baloch insurgents are blowing up gas pipelines and wells, as though to send out the message that if they cannot have their own gas and royalties on it, neither will the rest of the country. Gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan are far in the future. Alternatives must now form a critical part of the government’s plans. *