Acute gas shortage has hit the residents of Dhaka metropolitan and adjacent areas over the past few weeks due to a rise in new and illegal gas connections.
Since the first day of Ramadan, consumers in many areas of Dhaka and Narayanganj have been suffering through this crisis.
The government resumed approving new gas connections in May last year, following a moratorium.
According to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company officials, the authorities have awarded around 60,000 new connections in the urban areas since May without any significant rise in production.
Besides, the number of illegal connections crossed two lakh and those provided were using around 250-km of illegal pipeline, mostly in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi and Gazipur, they said.
These illegal connections have been said to be consuming 200 million cubic feet of gas a day, causing several hundred crores of taka worth of losses for the government, daily.
“We receive around 1,400 million cubic feet of gas (mmcfd) a day against the demand of nearly 1,800 mmcfd,” Director (Operations) of Titas Mir Moshiur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
He admitted that illegal gas connections had increased.
“Gas pipelines in most of the city areas are very old. If those are repaired and replaced, gas pressure would increase under the existing supply system,” he added.
According to Titas officials, Petrobangla, the state-owned oil company, has failed to increase gas supply in line with the ever-growing demand.
Besides, Petrobangla has increased the gas supply from 850 mmcfd to 1,000 mmcfd for power generation. The move came after the government asked its officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply during iftar, Tarabi prayers and sehri.
“I failed to prepare the supper today because of a gas crisis. It has been like this for a couple of weeks. Now if gas is not supplied adequately, it will led to a problematic situation,” Rahima Begum of Azimpur told the Dhaka Tribune.
“The low supply has hit CNG stations across the capital. The pressure of gas has fallen alarmingly. Refuelling now takes more time than usual,” Abul Hossain, an operator at a CNG filling station in Shantinagar, said.
Many refuelling stations in the capital now have long queues of vehicles because of the gas crisis.
In many areas in the capital, kitchen stoves also do not get supplied gas till late afternoon.
Petrobangla supplied 2,350mmcfd of gas from all the fields across the country yesterday, against the demand of more than 3,000mmcfd, officials said.
“Over the last few days, we have been unable to prepare iftar items at home because of the low gas pressure,” said Nusrat Jahan, a resident of Mirpur.
Mahmuda Nargis, who lives in Mohammadpur, also said she failed to prepare iftar and dinner due to severe gas crisis. People living in Tejturi Bazar, Rajabazar, Rampura, Moghbazar Shewrapara, Rayer Bazar and Banasri areas also alleged poor supply of gas.