Unannounced gas cuts make Karachiites’ lives miserable

• Households hit hard by outages as residents rush to eateries and LPG shops
• Muttahida, PTI slam SSGC for failing to ensure supply during scheduled hours
• Gas utility denies disruption, claims proper gas supply ensured ‘throughout meal times’
• Says optimal supply being ensured to power and fertilizer sectors

KARACHI: The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) has failed to ensure supply even during meal hours three times a day, leaving people across Karachi helpless and fuming amid unannounced gas cuts.

The SSGC claimed that it was providing gas to domestic consumers from 6am to 10:30pm without any interruption. However, over the past two weeks, Karachiites have been complaining about unannounced loadshedding in their localities.

The disruption led to a frenzy, with many rushing out to eateries and LPG stations in search of alternative cooking options.

Restaurants and eateries, including roadside snack vendors, were seen crowded in several parts of the city with long queues, mostly for roti and naan.

“It was chaotic,” said Rehan Danish, a resident of Gulzar-i-Hijri. “I had to rush back home from my office in Saddar, buying food for my children for lunch after my wife told me that our kitchen was shut down due to the unannounced gas suspension,” he said.

The worst affected were the household women who bore the brunt of the outage, struggling with cooking meals for their families.

“I had planned a family dinner, but with no gas, everything was cancelled,” said a housewife in Gulberg. “I had to go out to buy food from a nearby restaurant. It was so inconvenient,” she said.

Another woman, a resident of Shah Faisal Colony, said it was callous on the part of the gas utility to resort to unannounced gas cuts even during the few scheduled hours of supply three times a day. “Why doesn’t the SSGC let people know about the gas cuts in advance, or do they just want to pile misery on their customers?” asked the furious woman.

Students also faced difficulties, especially those trying to study and prepare for the ongoing high school examinations. “My whole evening study time was compromised due to the gas outage as I had to fetch naans from a nearby restaurant where I waited in a queue for over 20 minutes for my turn,” said Ali, a matric student living at Shah Faisal Colony. “And to make it worse, the power went out too. It was a nightmare,” he groaned.

As people struggled for alternatives, long queues formed at LPG stations and shops as the refilling took considerable time.

At many shops, even LPG was not available, adding to people’s difficulties. “I waited for half an hour, only to be told that the gas would arrive late,” said Muhammad Akhtar, a resident of Sultanabad, who was waiting at an LPG shop. “It’s frustrating. Can’t the gas utility manage their schedules properly so we can prepare ourselves?”, he asked.

As the day went on, the frustration of already gas-starved people turned to anger, with many taking to social media to vent their grievances against the gas utility company.

In a statement issued on Monday, the SSGC claimed that “proper gas supply was ensured throughout the meal times i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner” as line packs — the total volume of gas contained within the system — were quite healthy and gas pressures being on optimal capacity.

“Even with the shortage of RLNG, SSGC is also ensuring optimal gas supply to the power sector and the fertilizer sector for food security. Therefore, the company is trying to manage the available resources in a balanced manner so that the needs of all the sectors are met,” it said.

It said it has not received any “area wide complaints today”.

Political parties criticise SSGC for failure

Political parties vehemently criticised the gas utility for failing to ensure an uninterrupted supply during the three meal timings.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Ali Khurshidi, who is the opposition leader in the Sindh assembly, said that the gas utility was adding hardships to the already inflation-hit people. “It is the responsibility of the SSGC to ensure supply as per the schedule. The persistent crisis speaks volumes about the gas utility’s inefficiency,” he deplored.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Karachi Division Information Secretary and Spokesperson Fauzia Siddiqui strongly criticised the worsening gas load-shedding, inflated utility bills and persistent water and electricity shortages in the metropolis, terming them clear evidence of “gross incompetence and anti-people policies” of the Sindh government.

In a statement, she said Karachi is the country’s economic backbone and contributes nearly 65 per cent of national revenue, yet has been deprived of basic necessities.

“Citizens were first denied water and continue to struggle for every drop. This was followed by prolonged electricity outages, which still persist, and now gas load-shedding has made daily life unbearable,” she added.

Ms Siddiqui said the ongoing crises were a stark reflection of the government’s failure to ensure essential services in the country’s largest city. “Despite generating the bulk of Pakistan’s revenue, Karachi’s residents are left to suffer without access to basic utilities,” she noted.

The PTI spokesperson demanded immediate and uninterrupted supply of gas, water, and electricity to residents, along with urgent measures for infrastructure rehabilitation to alleviate the hardships faced by citizens.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026