THE shortage of Sui gas in winters is a persistent issue in Pakistan which exposes the gross negligence and failure of authorities every year. While countries worldwide cope successfully with catastrophes and natural calamities, the basic issues in Pakistan remain unattended.

The article ‘The LNG fiasco’ (Dec 3) pointed out how the negligence of authorities cost us up to $200 million by failing to issue a timely purchase request at a time when prices were very low. And subsequently, when the request was issued, the prices soared up and the people now have to bear the brunt of all this dereliction of duty by the personnel concerned.

Besides, the government seems to overlook the potential of alternative resources, such as biogas, to deal with the crisis. Our rural areas, which comprise more than 60 per cent of the total population, are replete with biogas resources, mainly animal dung waste, which can be used in the biogas plants to produce gas. According to a rough estimate, these resources can generate more than 10 million cubic metres of biogas per day, while only about 10pc of this is currently being produced.

The government should urgently plan a setup, incentivising companies and forming public-private partnerships to exploit these renewable resources. If the gas fiasco remains unaddressed and nothing is done to ease the burden on our LNG imports, the problem will get worse with each passing year.

Raja Amin Afzal
Muzaffarabad

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2021