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Severe gas shortages and soaring liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices have pushed low- and middle-income households in Rawalpindi back to traditional cooking fuels, including firewood, coal and kerosene oil, as winter approaches, as reported by The Express Tribune.
According to The Express Tribune, with natural gas available for barely six hours daily, families are struggling to manage their household expenses. The growing reliance on alternative fuels has also reportedly increased the demand for firewood, contributing to the theft of timber from public and privately owned forests. Prices of coal and firewood have witnessed a substantial rise during the winter season. Coal is currently selling between PKR 800 and PKR 1,000 per maund, depending on its quality. Dry firewood, which generates more heat and comparatively less smoke, costs PKR 1,500 to PKR 1,800 per maund, while ordinary firewood is available for PKR 1,300 to Rs 1,400. Sawdust prices have also climbed to PKR 700 per maund. Gas supplies are reportedly restricted to three intervals of two hours each, with prolonged outages from 9 pm until Sehri becoming increasingly common. Consequently, households and businesses have shifted towards LPG cylinders, further driving up prices. A new domestic cylinder now costs PKR 13,500, compared with PKR 10,000 previously, while refilling charges have increased from PKR 3,000 to PKR 5,000. Commercial cylinder refills have nearly doubled, reaching PKR 25,000 from PKR 12,500 to PKR 14,000 last year. Residents are increasingly purchasing discarded furniture wood and sawdust as cheaper alternatives. Muhammad Faizan, a furniture factory owner, said waste wood that was previously dumped in Nullah Lai is now collected by residents for cooking purposes, as cited by The Express Tribune. 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. He added that monthly LPG expenses had reached PKR 10,000 to PKR 12,000, as reported by The Express Tribune. (ANI)
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