MUZAFFARGARH: With brown-outs of gas becoming the order of the day and LPG prices going up every day, people have turned to the traditional fuel source: firewood.

The logs of firewood can be seen along roadsides in the Muzaffargarh city and other towns where people buy the stocks for kitchen and to heat up their houses to cope with the chilly winter.

The demand for stacks of kikar or vachellia nilotica and sheesham is high for their least moisture contents.

The people of city areas of Kot Addu and Muzaffargarh say turning to firewood fuel is a difficult but unavoidable step.

“Our women say they can’t cook food on firewood as they feel uncomfortable due to the smoke emitted from wood,” said Abdul Sattar, who shifted to the Muzaffargarh city some 15 years ago from the rural side.

As the demand increases, the rates of firewood have gone up.

Malik Sajid, a buyer of firewood while tying a bundle of sticks in neighbourhod Mithuwala, said last year dry wood was sold for Rs300 to 350 per 40 kilo and now the commodity was being sold for Rs400.

The rates, however, fluctuate from day to day and place to place.

Adnan, a police official, said he visited every day four to six wood selling points after office time to find dry and cheap wood. He said he had found the rates between Rs380 and Rs400.

Municipality and district officials say the sector of firewood selling is seasonal and informal and the government has not fixed any official prices of wood.

Woodcutters and sellers, however, justify the prices.

Hakim Bhatti says selling wood involve several laborious steps. He says first he bargains with the owner of desert land where kikar grows and buys it six months before the start of the season. The next step is cutting of thorny trees which takes lots of efforts. At the end, logs are transported in tractor-trolleys to cities.

He said the government and the public should appreciate them for meeting the fuel demands in the absence of gas and electricity.

People, however, say the sellers earn thousands in profit every day, so they should be under tax net.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2014