Residents of Karachi engage in hazardous gas storage practices.

A concerning and perilous habit has emerged in Karachi, where homeowners, exasperated by extended gas load-shedding, have allegedly been storing gas in giant plastic balloons for domestic usage,

Reports indicate that residents of Mominabad in Karachi’s Orangi Town have resorted to unconventional techniques due to ongoing low gas pressure and supply shortages. Residents report that specifically constructed plastic balloons are being filled with gas and utilised for cooking throughout the day.

These balloons, allegedly obtainable in Karachi marketplaces for approximately Rs1,000 to Rs1,500, are inflated when gas supply is momentarily reinstated. Upon filling, they are detached and utilised as a provisional storage solution for household culinary requirements.

Residents of Karachi characterised the practice as a “last resort” owing to acute gas shortages, asserting they have no viable alternatives to address everyday household requirements.

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Experts have emphatically cautioned that this technology presents significant safety hazards, labelling the gas-filled balloons as a “mobile bomb” that may detonate from even a slight spark, friction, or change in pressure. The existence of such devices within residences in Karachi has elicited significant apprehensions over possible fire and explosion risks.

Safety analysts have implored authorities, especially the gas utility company, to promptly rectify the deteriorating supply situation in Karachi and to take immediate measures to avert what they characterise as a perilous and unregulated practice emerging in several areas of the city.