With natural gas available for barely six hours a day and LPG prices soaring, families in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi are returning to firewood, coal and kerosene to keep their kitchens running as winter approaches.
asserted
winter → soar → kitchens
According to a report by The Express Tribune, households are increasingly relying on cheaper alternatives such as discarded furniture wood and sawdust.
uncertain
households → accord → wood
Residents are also facing steep increases in the cost of LPG cylinders, with a new domestic cylinder selling for PKR13,500 (approx Rs 4644), compared with PKR10,000 (approx Rs 3440) earlier.
asserted
cylinder → face → PKR10,000
Refill charges have risen from PKR3,000 (approx Rs 1032) to PKR5,000 (approx Rs 1720), while commercial cylinder refills have nearly doubled to PKR25,000 (approx Rs 8600).
asserted
refills → rise → PKR25,000
The cost of firewood and coal has also climbed.
asserted
cost → climb → firewood
Dry firewood is selling for PKR1,500 (approx Rs 516) to PKR1,800 (approx Rs 619) per maund, while ordinary firewood costs PKR1,300 (approx 447) to PKR1,400 (approx Rs 482).
asserted
firewood → sell → PKR1,400
Coal is priced between PKR800 (approx Rs 275) and PKR1,000 (approx Rs 344) per maund, depending on quality, and sawdust costs around PKR700 (approx Rs 240) per maund.
asserted
sawdust → price → maund
Muhammad Faizan, a furniture factory owner, told The Express Tribune that waste wood previously dumped near Nullah Lai was now being collected by residents for cooking.
asserted
wood → tell → cooking
Shehzad Manzoor Kiyani, divisional president of the All-Pakistan Clerks Association, said inflation and unreliable gas supplies had forced government employees to return to firewood and coal.
asserted
inflation → say → firewood
He said households were spending PKR10,000 (approx Rs 3440) to PKR12,000 (approx Rs 4127) a month on LPG.
asserted
households → say → LPG
The household crisis comes as Pakistan’s LPG supply faces further pressure.
asserted
supply → come → pressure
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has raised the official LPG price for November to PKR 294,075 (approx Rs 1,01,138) per tonne, from PKR 279,341 (approx Rs 96,084) in October.
asserted
Authority → raise → October
The price of an 11.8-kg domestic cylinder has consequently risen by PKR 173 (approx Rs 59) to PKR 3,470 (approx Rs 1,194), taking the official retail rate to PKR 294 (approx Rs 101) per kg.
asserted
price → rise → kg
But LPG is reportedly selling for as much as PKR 630 (approx Rs 217) per kg in the open market, while company-operated franchises are charging up to PKR 400 (approx Rs 138) per kg.
uncertain
franchises → sell → kg
Ogra said the increase followed a 6.47% rise in Saudi Aramco’s contract price, despite a marginal 0.12% decline in the average dollar exchange rate.
asserted
increase → say → rate
LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan chairman Irfan Khokhar said the situation was serious because of the closure of the Iran border.
asserted
situation → say → border
He claimed that at least 70% of Pakistan’s LPG was imported from Iran, with the remaining 30% produced locally, and urged the government to curb market manipulation.
asserted
% → claim → manipulation
Meanwhile, the Pakistan LPG Marketers Association has threatened to shut down businesses from November 16 if the government sidelines the private sector under its proposed LPG policy.
asserted
government → threaten → policy
Association chairman Ali Haider said the government should retain the sector’s deregulated structure, arguing that the private sector played a major role in imports.
asserted
sector → say → imports
Haider said that of around 1.3 million tonnes of LPG consumed, approximately 225,000 tonnes were imported from the Gulf, largely by private companies.
asserted
tonnes → say → companies
In a letter to petroleum minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, the association said the draft policy sent to the prime minister had been prepared without private-sector input and called for complete deregulation of the LPG sector.
asserted
policy → say → sector
The association also criticised the petroleum development levy of Rs4,669 per tonne on locally produced LPG under the 2016 policy.
asserted
association → criticise → policy
The levy was intended to help state-owned entities, including Pakistan State Oil, Parco and Sui Southern Gas Company, import LPG during winter and emergencies.
asserted
entities → intend → winter
Haider alleged that despite billions of rupees being collected through the levy, these entities had failed to import supplies during the current shortage.
asserted
entities → allege → shortage
The Aporia
