The nights are cold and the days are getting colder, while the people of Pakistan have no respite, and nothing to warm themselves with. The gas shortage continues in all its glory, with homes now also suffering from a dearth of heating at the hearth. No heaters was one thing, but now the situation is steadily taking a turn for the worse as geysers and stoves are also hard to use with the little gas that is available. No food, no warm water and no fire. We truly are back to the stone ages.
To top it all off, and almost as if to increase the frustration of the citizens, the TV and radio channels are flooded with completely unselfconscious and un-ironic advertisements, reminding the nation to conserve gas, and be mindful while using it. One would do that, if there was gas to use in the first place. With nothing to use, much less to conserve there is little point in irking the citizens more than they already are. The advertisements are completely redundant, if the government is just going to stand by and watch the country freeze itself to death. And that is exactly what the game plan seems to be at the moment.
Any other country would see this as a big problem, if it were happening elsewhere. But as usual, Pakistan carries on with little care for what could happen as a consequence of our inaction. There were parts of the country that hit record lows on the temperature scale, and coupled with the shortage, this could prove to be disastrous in the not-so distant future.
The initiatives such as the Iran gas pipeline and importing LNG from Qatar need to be moved up the priority list. The last time we stalled on efforts to improve the energy situation of Pakistan, electricity became scarce. This time its gas. Clearly, we need to learn from our mistakes. The government knows what the problem is, and the solution, and yet we see nothing being done except admitting that the situation is bad and will only get worse. Invest money in the things that really matter. After all, the government was not too shy in promising us these amenities when they were bidding to come to power. Now prove to us, that you are true to your word.