• Many areas without gas during SSGC promised meal times
• Making tea and roti become a Herculean task for residents
• Costly LPG cylinder only option for rickshaws, eateries to keep business afloat

KARACHI: It’s not that uncommon to find a pickup truck loaded with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders on any busy road of the city any time of the day. They are in huge demand, therefore they are there.

Karachi is experiencing severe gas loadshedding these days. The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has recently announced that it would supply gas to its domestic consumers thrice a day during meal times, meaning people have to live without gas during remaining 16 hours. However, there are widespread complaints that the gas utility has so far failed to honour its own announcement as many city areas remained without gas even during the already promised 12pm to 2pm lunch hours.

Be it Baldia, Nazimabad, Korangi, Defence or Gulistan-i-Johar, everyone is complaining of low gas pressure or no gas at all. It’s a general impression that there is a shortage of gas during winters.

Most folks Dawn spoke to complained about problems for the past seven to eight months though all agreed that winters made things worse.

At an LPG filling place in Korangi, you find all kinds of customers. There is the rickshaw driver with his little 3kg LPG cylinder. “We are charging Rs200 per kilogram of LPG right now,” shared Akram Khan at a filling point in Bhittai Colony, adding that refilling of a 3kg cylinder will cost Rs600, a medium-sized 6kg cylinder the double of that and a tall 45kg cylinder, Rs9,000.

Mohammad Ahsan, a customer with his own cylinder at the shop, said then: “Now, do you understand why you pay Rs20 for a roti that you used to purchase for only Rs2 earlier?”

He added: “An empty new big cylinder, which used to cost about Rs5,000 a few years ago, costs Rs16,000 to 17,000 now. And then you need to dig into your pockets further to have it filled.”

You find a grumpy manager at the counter of a tea stall, Cafe Abbas, nearby. “There is low gas pressure all day and after 9pm, there is no gas altogether,” said the manager, Mohammad Ali.

“Who do you complain to when everyone is facing the same issue? We have people from the entire neighbourhood coming to us for tea and roti because they have no gas in their stoves at night. We also get people bringing us milk to warm up for children at night and also in the morning,” he added.

At another little eatery and tea shop, Quetta Ehsaan Hotel in the DHA Phase-II commercial area, there is Syed Dastagir telling you that he spends a fortune on cylinders just to keep his business running. “We are a 35-year-old hotel, which never used to face gas shortage issues. But we have been experiencing the worst shortage for the last seven to eight months,” said the hotel owner.

“In a month, I am spending Rs125,000 on LPG cylinders. Everyone wants hot tea so the tea is always brewing on low heat here. We just don’t turn off the stove,” he said.

Meanwhile, a resident of Sachal Goth said that gas fluctuations have become a part of their life. “There is no gas sometimes when the children are getting ready for school in the morning, which is very frustrating as we need to get their breakfast and school lunchboxes ready,” the resident informed.

“The day before yesterday, we had no gas for cooking meals and lunch was sent over to us by some relatives. Another day, we had to order burgers because the same problem arose again. This is how our daily expenditures are also going up,” he said.

Another resident of Gulistan-i-Johar Block 13 said that he was very used to having a cup of tea after dinner every evening. “But no gas around that time has ruined my daily little source of comfort,” he said.

“I’m continuously eating cold dinners with cold chapatti thanks to this gas loadshedding,” said one more resident, this time from Block L of North Nazimabad.

“I also liked having coffee after dinner, which I also don’t get anymore, so I have accepted my fate,” he added.

The residents have till now not gotten cylinders for their home kitchens in the hope that things would improve. But thinking about winter just around the corner, they are also pondering over other options.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2022