While winter months tend to get a few degrees uncomfortable, thanks to shortsighted government policies and little to no attention given to gas reserves, the situation is fast heading towards what flesh and blood can stand. In a crippling blow, people in Punjab are being forced to endure an unparalleled gas and power crisis. The precipitous drop in gas pressure has rendered even ordinary stoves inoperable. Power outages to the tune of five hours in Lahore are becoming a routine matter as smaller towns are facing a far worse scenario. As business after business calls on the interim prime minister to direct immediate attention to the severe gas shortage and low pressure in industrial zones, the plight of the masses should be similarly raised on all relevant platforms. Simply because the caretaker cabinet had sounded alarm bells well in advance does not absolve the state of its responsibility towards the welfare of the common man. Pakistanis are already paying for the utility through their nose, which is likely to get even costlier in the wake of the 193 per cent hike in tariff. Isn’t this laughably ironic that a country taking immense pride in its indigenous gas resources stands at the edge of the utter collapse of the energy sector? Policy inconsistencies, bureaucratic hurdles punctuated by acute myopic agendas and security concerns have steamrolled the transition into a net importer of fuels, which is relentlessly pushing the economy closer and closer to default. Cracks in the local pipeline mean we have to keep securing cargo after cargo of LNG to ensure our factories are running and people don’t go hungry. With gas contributing nearly 38 per cent to the country’s primary energy supply mix, Islamabad helplessly raises its hands up in the air and asks what other option it has to pay suppliers whatever they demand in order to keep the country up and running. It can only be hoped that new discoveries will soon be prioritised. *