Dhaka faced an acute gas supply disruption on Saturday because of emergency maintenance at a city gas station (CGS) in Ashulia.
On Friday night, Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) received a complaint about a gas leak but the technical team was sent to investigate on Saturday morning.
GTCL west zone’s General Manager (operations), Abu Sayed Mahmud, said they detected a leakage on a 20-inch diameter pipeline at the GTCL gas station in Ashulia on Friday.
“Upon receiving information, a GTCL maintenance team started working at the site from 8am Saturday. "We are hopeful the problem will be fixed within 24 hours, restoring gas supply to normal," he said.
Parts of Dhanmondi, Shyamoli, Agargaon, Ashulia, Savar, Aminbazar, Dhamrai, Old Dhaka, Shukrabad, Kalabagan, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Jigatala, Sukrabad, Shankar, Kallyanpur, and Gabtoli areas experienced an acute gas crisis.
Most people in these areas complained that the gas was turned off without any prior warning and did not know how long the supply was going to be out.
Meanwhile, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL), in a statement said Lalmatia, Hazaribagh, Paikpara, Kadirabad, Monsurabad, and surrounding areas would also be suffering a gas outage or low pressure until 8pm on Saturday.
When asked why it took almost 12 hours for them the send a technical team to assess the complaint, Abu Sayed Mahmud said: “The problem was reported on Friday evening, but a technical team started working on the matter from Saturday morning. “
Emergency valve repair
According to officials at Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, a technical fault in a valve at the transmission station of Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) in Ashulia, led to this sudden disruption in gas supply.
Titas Gas officials said the gas supply in those areas remained suspended.
Titas Gas is responsible for gas distribution in Dhaka city, Savar, and Manikganj, while GTCL is responsible for gas transmission across the country.
Titas Gas Manager Enamul Haque said the GTCL has been working to fix the problem by replacing the valve at the station, which is expected to be completed by morning today.
Titas Gas deputy general manager Anisur Rahman said they do not have any alternative arrangements to improve the gas supply situation in areas where the supply remained stopped.
However, gas supply to the western part of the capital is expected to restore gradually from today morning as authorities have started repairing the leakage in the national gas grid in Ashulia, at the outskirts of Dhaka city.
“Repairing the leakage in the gas grid line in Ashulia is going on . . . supply of gas to the affected area is expected to restore gradually from 8am tomorrow (Sunday),” Kamaruzzaman Khan, director (operations) of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Ltd told BSS.
What’s for dinner?
A therapist at Birdem, Silvia Shabnam, found out on Facebook that gas supply was disrupted when she was at work. “I had to buy lunch and dinner, and mostly likely will have to buy lunch tomorrow (today) as well, because there will not be any gas at home when I leave for work tomorrow.
“This is extremely expensive for me and I cannot afford to keep buying my meals or get an electric stove.”
People were resorting to creative ways to get by on Saturday.
Md Omar Ali Biswas, a graphics designer who lives in Lalbagh, told the Dhaka Tribune that his family had to resort to traditional cooking methods when they realized the gas hadn't returned in the morning.
“When the gas went out last night, we thought it would be back in the morning but when it wasn't, our maid used some bricks and wood and made a wood fired stove on the roof,” he said.
Wafiur Rahman, a resident of Shyamoli, Dhaka, told the Dhaka Tribune that there was no gas supply in his house since the early hours of Saturday, which extended till evening the same day.
When he called the local Titas Gas helpline, the operator could not give an estimate as to when gas supply would return to normal.
"While cooking was sidelined for the day, nearby restaurants were also affected and could not provide adequate quantities of food to everyone," he added.
Titas supplies gas to nearly 2.8 million residences in Dhaka. It also provides gas to various industrial areas and factories.
The GTCL is the only government entity responsible for gas transmission in the areas covered by six state-run gas distribution companies.
Before the latest incident, the TGTDCL, which supplies gas in the greater Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions, was already facing a shortfall of at least 300mmcfd against demand of around 2,200mmcfd. In the Dhaka metropolitan area alone, the demand is around 1,700mmcfd.