The residents of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are facing acute shortage of gas and office goers and children are forced to go without having breakfast.
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and SNGPL managing director have failed to realize the difficulties of the common man to address the issue which is going on for the last four years particularly during the winter.
According to details, there is no or less-pressure gas in areas which are housed by the middle class or lower middle class while full pressure is available in posh sectors of Islamabad and Cantonment areas of Rawalpindi city.
Majority of sectors in Islamabad including G-6, G-7, G-11, I-9 and I-10 and Rawalpindi localities including Khayban-e-Sir Syed, Bangash Colony, Sadiqabad, Amarpura, Waris Khan, Glass Factory, Muslim Town, Shakriyal, Pir Wadhai, Dhoke Kala Khan and other such middle class localities have no gas from 6am to 11pm which was against the government’s announcement that the gas would not be available from 10pm to 6am.
Housewives interviewed by this scribe in most of these areas complained that they have to remain awake to prepare food at night because after 6am there was no gas in their stoves. They said they could not afford LNG which was very costly.
The housewives threatened to start protests against this failure of the government. They demanded that the Petroleum and Natural Resources minister must be sacked from his position for his failure despite the fact that he spoke a lot on irrelevant matters including political issues.
The gas pressure has become a serious problem for the housewives as the stoves have gone cold. Students and office going people are helpless to go their collages and offices without taking breakfast.
The gas problem is not for domestic consumers but the hotels are also faced with the same difficulties. They use LNG or fuel wood to meet the demands of the consumers as most of the domestic consumers also turn to the hotels to buy food items.
Citizens of twin cities Raja Anees, Raja Ubaid, Raja Nasir, Ammad Abbasi and others have demanded of Minister of CADD Dr Tariq Fazal Ch, and Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to either resolve their problems or quit if they cannot resolve the problems of the citizens. They questioned, ‘If there is shortage of gas, why there is full pressure in posh localities of the two cities’. They said these double standards should come to an end and first the gas supply in Ministers’ Colony and guest houses of the provincial governments must be stopped so that there is realization to the rulers about the difficulties of the poor masses’.