THE onset of cold weather in the country has brought with it a familiar woe: a severe shortage of piped gas for households. With kitchens abandoned and citizens forced to turn to desperate and dangerous methods if they want a hot bath in this biting cold, it seems worth asking why our governments have no viable solutions to the people’s everyday problems. Almost everything that is considered a basic need in the modern world must now be procured privately and paid for through the nose. Water, electricity, gas, and even clean air have become scarce commodities, and there seems to be no long-term solution for their periodic shortages except for every household making their own arrangements. In many places, this means buying water from the tanker mafia; purchasing generators, UPS systems or solar set-ups for uninterrupted electricity; shifting to pressurised cylinders to be able to use gas when one needs it; and buying air purifier systems to be able to breathe safely. In these challenging times, the additional costs these arrangements entail are unaffordable for most. It is no wonder that ordinary people are so frustrated and angry with the status quo — they cannot even help themselves if the government will not.

Cushioned in their wealth and privilege, the power elites no longer seem to care for the welfare of the masses. How can they, when they can easily and without a second thought, access everything that ordinary people cannot? At the very least, one would expect a policy direction and accompanying measures that could help ordinary people make long-term choices. If the country is saddled with surplus electricity capacity, perhaps the government could consider a policy to encourage the adoption of modern appliances that reduce the dependence on other stressed resources. Though it has attempted to ‘subsidise’ electricity consumption this winter through a rather confusing formula, the government could have done better by also making it easier for households to switch to electric geysers and stoves. Related policies and incentives to encourage these appliances to be made cheaply and on a wider scale by the domestic industry could also have had a wider economic impact. Unfortunately, such foresight has always been in rather short supply at the top levels of decision-making in this country. One may pray for visionary leaders but continue preparing for the worst.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024