The gas crisis in Savar has persisted for nearly one and a half months, leaving residential consumers without cooking gas, CNG drivers waiting for hours at filling stations and industries struggling to keep their operations running.
Residents said they often get little to no gas throughout the day and night, forcing them to rely on LPG cylinders, electric stoves and firewood for cooking.
During a visit to several homes on College Road in Savar municipality, residents described the situation as increasingly difficult.
“There has been no gas for two months. We have to buy firewood, and now even firewood is becoming scarce,” said Naznin Sultana, a tenant in the Radio Colony area.
Another resident, Tania Akter, said: “We cannot afford to buy a cylinder, yet we have to pay the monthly gas bill. We are suffering a lot. Because of the gas shortage, sometimes we can manage only one meal a day.”
The crisis is also affecting CNG filling stations in Savar.
Of seven stations in Aminbazar, Hemayetpur and Savar municipality, five are reportedly experiencing low gas pressure, resulting in long queues of vehicles.
CNG driver Nur Alam said he had been waiting for hours without getting gas.
“I arrived at around 8am, and it is now 1pm. I still haven’t got gas,” he said.
Bus driver Shahidul Islam, who came to Savar from Manikganj, said the shortage was affecting drivers travelling across the area.
“We cannot find gas anywhere. The situation is the same day and night. We are suffering tremendously,” he said.
Business owners and industrial operators said gas pressure, which normally remains between 8 and 10 PSI, has fallen to around 2-3 PSI.
“A CNG station normally needs 8 to 10 PSI to operate, but we are getting only around 3 PSI,” said Humayun Kabir, an official at a CNG station in Savar.
The shortage has also disrupted industrial production, with factories being forced to rely on generators.
Khairul Alam, an official at a garment factory in Hemayetpur, said the factory was having to arrange fuel regularly to keep its generators running.
“Industries around us are also running their generators at the same time, making the fuel shortage increasingly severe,” he said.
When contacted, Abu Saleh Mohammad Khademuddin, manager of the Savar zonal office of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, declined to comment on the situation.
