Pakistan, which continues to face an energy crisis, is now putting the lives of its citizens at risk by forcing them to fill liquid petroleum gas in large, improvised plastic bags.
According to a report by news outlet Deutsche Welle, residents from impoverished neighbourhoods in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are filling up improvised plastic bags with natural gas at shops that are connected to the country’s gas pipeline network for cooking, since gas reserves are declining and international LNG providers have defaulted on their gas delivery contracts with Pakistan.
The Pakistan government has reduced gas supply to homes, businesses and other establishments due to falling reserves.
#Pakistan With no natural gas supply to homes, residents of Karak, carry gas for their household needs in plastic bags. They are literally moving bombs. Karak has huge estimated reserves of oil and gas, while to the #Karak people legal gas connections are not provided since 2007. pic.twitter.com/FMphcH6nUa— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) December 29, 2022
High rates for petroleum and natural gas have affected the Pakistani economy and the nation is also at a risk of default as its forex reserves have plummeted in the recent months.
Households are unable to purchase gas cylinders - which are made of metal - and are forced to adopt reusable bags for storing LPG but this is a major risk since any leak can lead to a major blast.
“These reusable bags sell for 500-900 (Pakistani) rupees each, depending on the size, while the compressor prices range from 1,500-2,000 (Pakistani) rupees each, depending on the size. People use them in both rural and urban centres,” Najeebullah Khan, a trader, told Deutsche Welle.
He further explained that since gas cylinders are costing PKR 10,000, families are finding it difficult to purchase cylinders and are forced to use these bags.
Pakistani regional officials have banned the practice. Doctors in the region who spoke to the news agency also said they have tended to several patients with burn injuries and some of them were critical.
The customers use the plastic bags to store gases from gas pipelines. It takes almost an hour to fill up a bag with gas. The gas lasts for a day or two. Once the gas has been filled in the bags, people use a small electric suction pump to extract and use the gas for cooking.
The bags contain nozzles and valves which are put in place tightly. A compressor is needed to fill the plastic bags with gas.
Pakistani authorities have arrested at least 16 people in December in Peshawar’s Garhi Qamardin and Ashraf road. Many shopkeepers were booked and bags used to store gas were confiscated.
However, the report by Deutsche Welle said that these businesses have now moved underground and sellers are selling to customers who they believe will not report them.
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