RAWALPINDI: Despite the rain on Wednesday, Nasreen Rahat stood in queue for hours to get her Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder filled as she had to cook food for her children and husband in the afternoon.

The 39-year-old was in distress as time was passing and her children were about to return from their school.

She remained at the LPG shop waiting for her turn as the rain continued outside.

`Help me get this cylinder filled quickly as I have to cook food for my children,` she requested the shopkeeper. However, her turn came after another hour as there was a long queue outside the LPG shop in the main bazaar of Dhoke Hassu.

She said her husband was working in a factory while her children were studying at school therefore no one was available to get the LPG cylinder filled.

`It is difficult to get firewood or coal, and the landowners get angry if I use these because the smoke damages the paint,` she added.

Ms Rahat said the pressure of natural gas was too low to light the stove, addingthat the whole neighbourhood was facing the gas loadshedding and people were in distress.

Ms Rahat is among hundreds of residents of the garrison city who face acute shortage of gas and electricity. The absence of these utilities has made their lives miserable especially on the cold rainy day.

Even though CNG stations are closed, residents continue to face low pressure of gas.

They believe the shortage of natural gas is due to the mismanagement of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and government.

According to the residents, gas pressure drops sharply from 6:00am to 10:00pm and remains too low to cook food. Therefore, they had decided to search for alternatives, resulting in long queues at almost all LPG-decanting shops in the city.

However, due to the high demand, LPG is also running short in some areas which has forced people to queue up at other shops. Electricity loadshedding has further added to their problems.

More rain forecasted This situation is likely to deterioratefurther as demand for gas increases in the next few days.

According to the Meteorological Department, more rains and cold weather are expected in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad over the next 24 hours.

Wednesday was heavily overcast as the drizzle continued intermittently till late in the evening, bringing the mercury down to one degree Celsius.

Most people remained indoors due to the rain. Resultantly, little business activity was witnessed in the markets and city centres as these presented a deserted look.

However, shops selling fish, French fries, Samosas and soup thrived.

Traffic signals on the main city road went out of order due to which traffic remained suspended for several hours at Asghar Mall Chowk, Siddiqui Chowk, Pindora, Moti Mehal Chowk, Naz Cinema, Chandni Chowk and several other areas.

Motorcyclists bore the brunt of the cold as and the rain. Some motorcyclists at the busy Faizabad Intersection in Islamabad sought refuge under the bridge while pedestrians and commuters took cover under the sheds at busstops or nearby buildings.