The severe gas crisis is hampering household chores and hit production at industrial units in the port city.
The prolonged gas crisis in the city took a worse turn yesterday as supply went even lower than the previous days.
According to Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd, the supply of gas to Chittagong was 226 million cubic feet yesterday and 235 million cubic feet on Wednesday.
The gas supply for last seven days for domestic and industrial users stood at 290 million cubic feet on an average against the demand of 480 million cubic feet per day.
The city residents said they could not operate their domestic burners and were forced to buy ready-made food from eateries due to the poor pressure in the gas line.
Rajib Raihan, a photojournalist working for a national English daily and also a resident of the city’s Monsurabad area said: “Against the backdrop of the poor gas supply, we bought ready-made foods from nearby restaurants. Later, we also bought a gas cylinder.”
Besides, the acute disruption in the supply also forced CNG filling stations to suspend their services.
“ We have already notified the problem to the Petrobangla chairman through a letter. In order to mitigate the crisis, we are considering to suspend gas supply to bulk industrial users. We have already asked the gas-fuelled power generation units in Chittagong to suspend production,” said Engineer Khondaker Matiur Rahman, general manager (engineering services) of KGDCL.
“The power generation in one unit at Raozan Thermal Power Plant has remained suspended due to shortfall in gas supply while the generation in the other unit has been suspended for overhauling purposes. The power generation at Shikalbaha Peaking Power Plant has also been suspended for the gas shortage,” said Anil Chandra Bhowmik, manager (operation) of Chittagong Power Station.
“This is not a new phenomenon for the industries of Chittagong. The production in my industrial unit has been stopped for the last two days due to the acute shortage of gas,” said Anamul Hoq Iqbal, Managing Director of Saleh Steel.
“We have been incurring huge losses due to the persistent gas crunch. The steel re-rolling mills of Chittagong are struggling to keep afloat due to the persistent gas crisis. Something should be done on an urgent basis to overcome the crisis,” added Iqbal, who is also the Vice President of Bangladesh Auto Steel Re-Rolling Mills association.
Meanwhile, the trade body leaders have urged the government to take necessary measures to address the severe gas crunch in Chittagong.
Mahbubul Alam, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said they have already sent an emergency letter to the state minister for Power and Energy, chairman of Petrobangla to take measures on emergency to normalise gas supply to Chittagong from the national grid.
“In a letter sent on November 5, we mentioned that the region was suffering from acute gas crisis and the production in industries was seriously disrupted and the manufacturers were losing work orders eventually,” said Alam who is also vice-president of the FBCCI.
“In the letter, we further pointed out that the industrialisation in the commercial capital has remained suspended due to the half gas supply against the demand. The KGDCL is struggling to tackle situation through rationing system.”
