- Locals blame SSGC for not being able to guarantee supplies.
- Many were compelled to purchase pricey LPG during the holy month in order to meet their demands.
- PPP cautions that center gas emergencies may drive customers to the breaking point.
KARACHI: The gas utility’s lofty promises of a continuous gas supply during Sehri and Iftar in the holy month of Ramadan were shattered when the city’s fasting citizens woke up on Tuesday to discover either extremely low gas pressure or no supply of it in practically every part of the metropolis.
A few days prior, the gas provider promised the public that there will always be gas available for Sehri and Iftar preparations. Gas supply will be guaranteed between 3 and 9 am for Sehri, the meal used to obtain vital nutrients for fasting, and between 3 and 10 pm for Iftar, the evening meal when the fast is broken, in accordance with the announcement made by the gas utility.
The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited has made the announcement, “SSGC wishes a blessed Ramazan to its esteemed customers and would like to assure them of uninterrupted gas supply for Sehri and Iftaar preparations.”
However, due to the gas utility’s persistent assurances of continuous supply, much of the city was without gas during Sehri and Iftar, adding to the misery of those who had not made other arrangements.
However, a representative for the gas utility stated that a continuous supply of gas was guaranteed during the Iftar and Sehri hours. He claimed that because the nation’s gas reserves were being depleted by about 10% annually, there was a growing disparity between supply and demand.
The healthy areas of the city, like Defence Housing Society, Bath Island, Clifton, PESCHS, and the neighborhood around them, were the worst affected.
DHA Phase-I resident Seema Shahid said that, contrary to the gas utility’s pledge, there was no gas flow at three in the morning. She remarked, “I waited and waited for it, but to no avail,” and her husband had to go get “parathas” and an omelette for her fast.
According to a DHA phase 6 resident, the gas supply in her neighborhood was restored at about 4 a.m. then disappeared by 5:30 p.m. “My kids left for school without breakfast because later there was no gas, but I was lucky to prepare Sehri.”
The textile engineer Mishkat Rabbani stated that because she was fasting during the busiest hours of the holy month, she didn’t want to blame the gas company for their inability to provide gas. But she added, “They (SSGC) ought to take into account people’s plight.”
The state of affairs in the city’s central region, which includes Lyari and the neighborhoods of Kharadar, Mauripur, and Agra Taj Colony, was the same as in other places.
Lyari resident Muhammad Aslam said he had been to Burns Road to purchase food for Sehri from a restaurant. He lamented, “At three in the morning, there was absolutely no gas in my area.”
However, residents of a few neighborhoods in Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar said that although they received gas supply in the morning for Sehri preparations, it did not last until 10 a.m., as the gas operator had claimed.
People from all throughout the city complained about the extremely low pressure, and others said they could obtain gas by using simply suction devices, which the gas utility claimed were forbidden.
The majority of citizens were compelled by the worsening gas crisis during Ramadan to convert from natural gas to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in order to satisfy their gas needs, which led to an increase in the sale and purchase of gas cylinders.
“My profession is fixing motorcycles. “I am unable to purchase such costly LPG,” stated Sajjad from Hijrat Colony.
According to a different Malir resident, the cost of LPG has been rising daily. He remarked, “I paid Rs 280 per kg today, but two weeks ago it was only Rs 260.”
The people did not have any relief during the Iftar hours, even though they suffered greatly as a result of the loss of the gas supply during Sehri.
Sehri and Iftar hours were reported as being without gas by residents in several portions of Keamari and districts West.
Orangi Town resident Shakeel Khan stated that since gas had not been flowing through the pipes in some areas of the neighborhood for several days, he and other locals were forced to cook with LPG. He continued, “We are no longer dependent on the gas utility; they are useless.”
Additionally, the people said that while some portions of the city received no gas supply, areas near the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited’s infrastructure did receive enough gas supply.
According to a resident of Federal B Area, there was gas available in his area in the morning, but not in the afternoon when iftar was being prepared.
Insiders at the power company informed Dawn that one of the primary causes of the city’s low gas pressure was the gas utility’s outdated and inadequate distribution system. Nevertheless, they claimed that because most people were using stoves at the same time between Sehri and Iftar, the pressure decreased.
They claimed that low pressure in some areas had also been brought about by the widespread usage of suction pumps.
PPP cautions partners
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has an ally in the Centre, issued a warning to its counterpart that the SSGC would bear responsibility for any unfavorable circumstance if the severe gas crisis in Karachi and other parts of Sindh escalated and that customers’ patience could be overwhelmed in the nation’s second most populous province.
Senator Waqar Mehdi, the general secretary of the PPP Sindh, also made it plain that his party would support the residents of the province in the event if hundreds of thousands of households were subjected to tests for their fundamental rights during the holy month.
He said in a statement, “It’s a sheer incompetence and failure of the SSGC that it has been unable to supply gas even during Iftar and Sehri.”
“We demand that those accountable for this inadequate planning and execution, including the prime minister and the federal minister of energy and power, be held accountable. It’s time to identify individuals who, although being aware of the approaching Ramazan well in advance of the holy month, were unable to effectively plan the supply despite understanding the demand and supply gap.”
He said that if action is not taken against authorities who have put millions of people in Sindh through stress and financial hardship, things would only become worse and there won’t be any incentive for things to get better in the future.
In the event that this situation is not resolved right away, public patience will snap, with dire repercussions. Senator Mehdi stated, “And the SSGC would be accountable for all these repercussions.
