RIGH under the nose of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, in Shahzad Town, street No 15, Islamabad, there is no gas supply from dawn to dusk. Sometimes it begins with a pressure so low that it is difficult to cook or to heat up geyser in this chilling season. Gas with pressure is available only at midnight till exact 6am. This is followed by a complete gas cut-off.

If this is the fate of Shazad Town, a modern village, then I wonder what the gas supply position in far-flung areas is. Quite often this leads to unlawful practices, like the installation of pressure pumps and drilling to widen the aperture of the main supply link. Sometimes this leads to tragedies.

Altaf Ahmad Shah

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2018