State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has instructed the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company (KGDCL) authorities not to provide gas connections to any consumer located in designated areas without legal documents.
“We want to connect all consumers based on proper documents, and industries would have to be set up in the government’s designated areas,” he said while discussing various issues of the KGDCL on Wednesday.
Nasrul Hamid said all the gas consumers will be brought under the prepaid meter system, as KGDCL installed 60,000 prepaid meters and the installation of another one lakh prepaid meters is underway.
“The government is committed to ensuring smooth and improved services to gas and electricity consumers. We are also taking various initiatives to ensure uninterrupted power and gas supply,” he added.
Mentioning the Bailey Road fire incident that took 46 lives, the state minister warned all his oil and gas companies to take security measures and ensure fire extinguishers to avoid any untoward situation.
As part of the government campaign for digitization, he inaugurated a data centre for prepaid gas meters under the KGDCL.
“With sincere efforts by the energy and mineral resources division, the KGDCL installed 60,000 prepaid gas meters and set up a data centre and a data recovery centre at its distribution areas,” Nasrul Hamid said.
He said that the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working relentlessly to ensure energy security in the country, which his ministry is working to materialize.
The state-run gas company has 602,396 consumers, and the gas pipeline is 3,236 kilometres.
Nasrul Hamid said it is a service-oriented government organization committed to providing the best services to its consumers.
As part of this, an online meter recharge system is also available through Bkash and other facilities.
The government has implemented the project aimed at building awareness among consumers about gas usage, capacity building for the management, and reducing monitoring costs.
During the meeting, Petrobangla chairman Janendranath Sarkar, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation chairman, and other officials were present.