Daily Times

If the misery brought on by the severe weather was not enough, citizens of the country and those in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular are now in the grip of a massive gas shortage, probably the likes of which we have never seen. Reportedly, the gas crisis worsened in Punjab on Sunday after the shortfall surged to 400 MMCFD, forcing the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) to divert to the domestic sector a supply of about 275 MMCFD, out of over 400 MMCFD liquefied natural gas (LNG) meant for the industrial, power and CNG sectors. People are complaining of the crisis as they have no gas to cook, bathe or keep themselves warm. Growth has plummeted and unemployment has soared due to the closure of industries being run on natural gas. There seems no end to the sufferings of citizens in the near future as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has failed to fulfil the promises it made during its election campaign in 2013. The PML-N misled the nation with hollow slogans that it would overcome the energy crisis. Such a claim joins the heap of fake promises made by the PML-N before coming into power. It adds to the list of failures of the incumbent government in tackling various challenges faced by the countrymen.

At a time when the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Khaqan Abbasi is required to rectify the problem, he has been busy presenting lame excuses to save his skin. Instead of focusing on better planning and finding new and affordable sources of gas supply, including the option of importing gas from neighbouring countries, the government has been slow and ill prepared as it has always been. It only responds when a crisis spins out of control. The problem of gas shortage has not been created overnight. Besides, any person with some common sense understands that a gap in supply and demand increases with the passage of time.

It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the demands of an increasing population are met with proper measures. What has the PML-N government done to avert the gas crisis during its almost four years’ tenure? An obvious reason for its failure is that the government has an incompetent team that cannot foresee a troubling situation and take necessary measures to ward off such crises. These elements sitting at the helm of affairs are increasing the troubles of the masses instead of bringing any relief. It is the mandate of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to take measures on a war footing to provide relief to citizens who are becoming a victim of the government’s lethargic attitude and poor policies in tackling challenges. The situation is really grave and the government needs to plan actions on how to address the problem within the shortest possible time. *