Rawalpindi gas outages disrupt homes and businesses

Nightly gas suspension from 9pm to 2am has become routine in Rawalpindi and cantonment areas, affecting households, tandoors, bakers and hotels. Residents say LPG prices have surged as shortages continue.

RAWALPINDI: Suspension of gas supply from 9pm to 2am has become a regular occurrence in city and cantonment areas, triggering protests by residents as well as tandoor owners, shopkeepers, bakers and hotel operators.

The outages have severely affected tandoor businesses across Rawalpindi, while hotels are facing difficulties in preparing food and bread. The use of commercial gas cylinders has also become increasingly costly, adding to the burden on businesses already struggling with the interruptions.

Residents in several neighbourhoods are facing acute shortages. The affected localities include Dhoke Elahi Bakhsh, Arya Mohalla, Dhoke Khabba, Sadiqabad, Dhoke Kala Khan, New Katarian, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, Pirwadhai, Fauji Colony, Dhoke Ratta, Mohanpura, Gawalmandi, Ganjmandi, Dhoke Chiragh Din, Gulistan Colony, Tench Bhatta and Ghaziabad.

According to residents, the gas cuts during morning and evening hours have made routine household cooking difficult, particularly at meal times. They said boiling milk and preparing food at home had become a challenge because supply is often suspended when families need it most.

Residents Kamil Hassan, Fawad Khan and Nadeem Sheikh, along with Public Welfare Society patron-in-chief Chaudhry Yasin, said the outages in the morning and evening were causing serious hardship for households. They said domestic consumers were being pushed towards LPG cylinders, which have become expensive.

They said domestic LPG cylinders are now being sold at Rs500 per kg and last only two to three days. They added that commercial cylinders used by tandoors and hotels have risen in price from Rs13,000 to Rs22,500.

Businesses under pressure

The repeated suspension of gas supply has created operational problems for food-related businesses, particularly tandoors and hotels that depend on uninterrupted fuel supply during peak working hours. Bakers, shopkeepers and hotel management are among those who have protested against the routine outages.

The situation has left both households and commercial users under pressure, with residents in the affected areas reporting distress over the continuing shortages and the rising cost of alternatives.