# Canaries in the coal mine

By [OfsakVida](https://paragraph.com/@made3) · 2022-07-18

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### Canaries in the coal mine

This dynamic is behind the increasingly chaotic scenes playing out in those countries.

As recently as a week ago, Sri Lanka's power and energy minister [said](https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/16/asia/sri-lanka-fuel-crisis-five-days-stock-intl-hnk/index.html) it was a matter of days before the country ran out of fuel. That bleak warning came as lines at fuel stations in Colombo extended up to 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) and in many towns clashes between police and the public broke out.

It is almost as if everyday life itself is shutting down. On Monday, public sector offices, government schools and government-approved private schools were closed for at least two weeks. Public sector workers have been told to take Fridays off for the next three months — with the suggestion they use the time to [grow their own food](https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/15/asia/sri-lanka-crisis-food-four-day-week-intl-hnk/index.html).

Pakistan too has had to reduce its working week — back down to five days from six — though that may only make the situation worse. Its six-day week, only recently introduced, was supposed to improve productivity and boost the economy.

Instead, daily hours-long power outages have plagued the country of 220 million for at least a month and malls and restaurants in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi have been told to close early to save fuel.

The country's energy supply is almost 5,000 megawatts below demand — a shortfall that could power between 2 million and 5 million homes on [some estimates](https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1209/ML120960701.pdf).

As Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb [put it on June 7](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/facing-severe-energy-crisis-pakistan-reverts-five-day-work-week-2022-06-07/): "We are facing a severe crisis."

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*Originally published on [OfsakVida](https://paragraph.com/@made3/canaries-in-the-coal-mine)*