A VICIOUS CYCLE: The people of Pakistan suffer all year long. Power breakdowns in the summers and gas loadshedding in the winters have become routine affairs. And linking the two main seasons and giving the people comprehensive fun all through the year is the menace of price spiral. Would this vicious cycle ever come to an end?

Rumman Iqbal
Karachi

UNJUST CHARGES: Recent reports suggest that an extra surcharge would be levied on electricity consumers. This is seriously unfair because the consumers have already been paying the cost of circular debt with an extra surcharge in the name of fuel price adjustment. Imposing another will only multiply the burden manifold. The extra surcharge is illogical and incomprehensible. Those at the helm of the affairs should revisit the decision.

Muqeem Rajput
Hyderabad

A SACRED CAUSE: Haj is a scared privilege only when it is performed through one’s own budget. The government sends many of its employees on pilgrimage without charging anything despite the fact that most such individuals happen to draw salaries that are hefty compared to their counterparts in the private sector. Given the current economic conditions, the government should immediately stop sending employees on pilgrimage. Instead, the amount should be spent on alleviating the condition of the poor across the land.

Khawaja Tajammul Hussain
Karachi

AIR POLLUTION: Air pollution is not a new phenomenon in Karachi. However, it has increased because of our negligence at individual and institutional levels. I live near Safoora Chowrangi. A neighbour burns garbage right next to my house. The toxic

fumes pollute the atmosphere and make it difficult for us to even breathe. Despite several complaints, no action has been taken against the culprit.

Fiza Sikandar
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023