The residents of Bhola, Barisal division, finally got the long-awaited domestic gas connection Wednesday.
Advisory Council member of the ruling Awami League (AL) Tofail Ahmed, MP, and Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Mansur inaugurated the gas line by giving connection to the city’s orphanage and the Dargah of Jainpuri Pir.
In a teleconference, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the residents of Bhola received the natural gas supply in their homes because they elected the AL.
Calling for votes, she asked the inhabitants of Bhola to reelect the AL to continue the flow of development and to combat corruption, militancy and autocracy.
To celebrate the occasion, elites of the town brought out a colourful procession from Kobi Mozammel Haque Town Hall.
Initially, around 2000 customers with valid documents and clearance certificates residing between Launch Ghat and Birshreshtha Mostafa Kamal Bus Terminal will receive the gas supply while the rest of the areas of the town will be covered gradually, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (BAPEX) officials said.
The application forms for gas connections were distributed from August 25, drawing massive a response from all across the town.
The natural gas reserve in Shahbajpur, Borhanuddin upazila, was discovered in 1980 during excavation work. Later, BAPEX surveyed the area in 1993.
After a feasibility study, drilling began in 1995, inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.
In 2008, the field first supplied gas to Bhola’s 34.5MW rental power plant, generating 10mmcfd (millions of cubic feet per day). However, the residents did not get gas for household use.
In 2010, the government formed the Sundarban Gas Distribution Company and assigned it to supply gas for domestic use.
BAPEX constructed 33km of pipeline from Shabajpur to Bhola for industrial use and 20km of pipeline inside the district town for domestic use in 2010.
Residents of Borhanuddin upazila formed a human chain at noon protesting the connections.
They said it was highly discriminatory to initiate the domestic gas supply at Bhola, which is 33 kilometers away, while the Borhanuddin upazila is located along the line. Moreover, the gas-field from where the gas was generated is situated in Shahbajpur, they said, adding that they had been deprived.
Tofael Ahmed, along with a Petro Bangla chairperson, rushed to the spot and calmed the group by assuring them that domestic gas connections would be available in the area soon.