Kumane Kulula: Current Affairs

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Petrol....Sorry Unavailable

Hamna January 21, 2015 0 Comments

No one is unaware of the current issues going on in Pakistan these days. Every second day, the people of Pakistan have to worry for another problem. The tensions, stress, anxieties, frustrations etc. have made a common man living in Pakistan senseless. Now-a-days petrol is not available in the province of Punjab. And no one in the government is taking the responsibility to accept their fault. Because they really don’t care, they know that they will get petrol, for all of their cars in their protocol in any case. One, who will not be able to get it, is only a person living in Pakistan. He is the one who is going to suffer, not the government officials.

It has been about 10 days now that the citizens of Punjab, mostly, are not getting fuel for their automobiles and motorbikes. They are not able to go to their jobs and work, send their children to schools, colleges and universities, fulfill their responsibilities for a household. And if one thinks of any sort of public transport then, it’s unavailable as well. While, if they are, then the rates are too high that a simple worker can’t afford them. The taxi, rikshaw drivers have increased the rates to almost a double, and if someone is willing to pay, but knows that they are asking for such high rates, complains, they say, you know there is so much problem of fuel these days, the complainer has nothing to say, as he, himself is a victim.

The officials of Pakistan State Oil say that not a single oil delivery has arrived in the country ports for the previous two weeks. On the other hand, every fortnight, a number of almost 6 to 8 ships with fuel of 65,000 tons arrive at the country ports. A PSO officer reported that, “the company has exhausted all its overdraft facilities in the past few weeks. All its LCs (letters of credit) lines have been choked as its total receivables now run over Rs. 215 billion. The power sector owed Rs. 190 billion and PIA Rs. 12.5 billion.”

Last Thursday, government paid Rs. 17 billion but it did not solve the problem. The amount went to the overdue drafts and so fresh imports of oil could not be made. No one is now supporting PSO with their product and no trusts are being laid on them by the exporters or the banks.

It is not just petrol that has formed lines of vehicles on the petrol pumps but also the CNG stations.

When the petrol shortage reached its limits, government announced that CNG will now be available for the cars. But still all in vain. A student reported, “I am unable to go to my university due to petrol unavailability for three days.” A father said, “I have to drop my children to school before I go to work, but now I have to wait for two to three hours in a queue to get petrol first a night before and then I am able to send them to school and go to my work, the next day.”

The problem here is that the citizens of this country are fed up. The so called slogans of each party, like “Roti, kapra aur makaan”, “Roshan Pakistan” and “Naya Pakistan” have given nothing but pain and suffering to the citizens. It’s now the need of hour to move towards the practical steps instead of satisfying the citizens with such lame slogans. The government has to take serious steps towards this issue and resolve it now and then. The people now don’t have the capacity to wander here and there for petrol just like electricity, Sui gas, water, shelter, food etc.

# Current Affairs

Saturday, 3 January 2015

Fire Alert

Hamna January 03, 2015 0 Comments

If it is said that the last week of the month December was a fire week, it cannot be wrong. First the fire in Karachi, on the 27^th December, 2014 put one of the biggest timber markets in Pakistan’s city Karachi, at stake. On the Saturday night, a fire erupted which took away all the building with it. The market is located in the Karachi’s Old Haji Camp.

It was just a normal day when this devastating event took place, shortly after midnight. Fire fighters were called soon after the fire broke out, but it took time for them to come. It not only affected the market but also the adjacent houses and other dozens of buildings. The fire was of category three and spread to the “Soomro Gali” and other nearby shops. The dense population around the affected area was evacuated by the emergency calls from the local mosque. Six fire fighters were performing their duties to control the fire. As it had spread to a large area it took about ten to eleven hours to have control over it. It was reported that some people are trapped in the building. The cause and reason of the fire erupt is still unconfirmed.

Fire fighters also reported a few problems which they faced while extinguishing the fire. The most important one was the narrow lanes and closeness of the nearby buildings.

The area has different small commercial storehouses for timber, which is used by the furniture manufacturing industries. The whole area was destroyed with the shops.

Just a day after this devastating event, another massive fire broke out in the commercial plaza of Anarkali, Lahore, killing 13 people and destroying several shops. An electrical short circuit was the cause of the fire in the Al Khalid Plaza’s fourth storey, which caused the Al Kareem Market to catch fire. In this Market the electronic items are manufactured and sold. Eyewitnesses reported that the fire erupted at 5:32pm and just in 10 minutes it took over all the building with it.

13 people along with a woman and a child were killed out of which 12 of them died due to suffocation. Seven of the dead have been identified so far but the other ones with the woman and the child could not be identified. The fire spread in just a few moments and many of the shopkeepers and customers were trapped in the building. DCO Captain (retired) Muhammad Usman also blamed the electrical short circuit for this conflagration. The Rescue 1122 spokesperson, Jam Sajjad Hussain, reported that 16 fire engines and 80 fire fighters were sent to the market for rescue of the people.

The problem faced was the same as of the Karachi fire fighters that the roads and streets were very narrow which made the rescue process very difficult.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif directed the district government to submit a report on the following incident within 24 hours. But none of the government officials or representatives went to condole for the incident. Financial compensation was also announced for the dead and the injured.

A high level team was also formed for the ensuring of the monetary compensation of the victims. The Anarkali Traders Union announced the market will be closed to mourn for the loss on Tuesday.

The problem here is that the fire can explode in any place but why it that the reason behind it is so uncertain. The electrical wires should be checked and seen if there is any problem. There should be fire extinguishers at every spot in the buildings and it should also be checked if there is gas in them. Security checks and fire checks should be performed regularly. On the other hand, there should be emergency exit points in plaza’s and markets. The narrow areas and roads should be reconstructed so that they can be made wider as well as the places where there is no such possibility there the facilities should be provided to the fire fighters. The fire fighters should be facilitated so that they have enough water supplies and have their engines in all places so that they can reach in time. The government should help out the people who lost their shops in such devastating incidents. They just have small shops from which they earn a living for their children and families. They are tax payers, they are not any defaulters, they don’t live like ministers, and they do not belong to higher upper class. They voted for you, they stood up for you, now it’s your time to give them something in return. Their demands are not too high. They just want a halaal income for themselves.

May Allah Almighty bless this nation and Pakistan!!

Ameen.