Karachi: Protest demonstrations were held in every district in the country against a severe natural gas shortfall that is causing immense misery to people during peak winter.
The people took to the streets on the appeal from the chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who asked his party’s leaders to lead the agitation against severe gas crisis.
The protestors raised slogans against the government and also held banners and placards to register.
Protests were staged in all districts of Karachi at important road intersections that caused serious problems in vehicular traffic movement for several hours.
Sindh Energy Minister, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, who belongs to the PPP, took part in the protest held in District Malir of Karachi.
The Energy Minister said the residents of Sindh shouldn’t face gas shortfall as the province accounted for majority of the natural gas volume produced in the country.
He mentioned that Article-158 of the Constitution also guaranteed that the people of Sindh had the first right to consume gas indigenously produced in the province.
He said the Federal Energy Minister, Hammad Azhar, should face accountability for delays in the arrival of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments in the country that caused severe gas shortfall everywhere in Pakistan.
He said in Sindh the gas crisis had worsened to an extent that the compressed natural gas stations, industries, and domestic sector were being severely affected.
Sindh Information and Labour Minister, Saeed Ghani, separately addressed the demonstrators in District East of Karachi.
He said the gas shortage had compelled people to use firewood at homes as they didn’t have any other mean to cook food.
