Gas supply restored in Mirpur, adjoining areas after fire in Shewrapara pipeline

Gas supply was restored in the capital's Mirpur and its adjoining areas at 1pm on Friday after completion of repair works at the gas pipeline.

The gas supply in the entire Mirpur and adjoining Shewarapara, Kazipara, Agargaon, Mohammadpur, Kalayanpur, Shyamoli, and Dhanmondi came to a halt following a fire incident at a gas pipeline at Shewarapara, reports UNB.

Titas Gas Managing Director Ali Mohammad Al Mamun said an underground gas pipeline caught fire at Shewarapara, which exploded during sewerage line installation works by WASA.

The workers of the WASA contractor carelessly displaced the gas pipeline while installing a 3.6 ft sewerage pipeline.

“This led to a fire at the gas pipeline at around 4:45am on Friday,” Mamun said.

He said Titas Gas engineers rushed to the spot along with fire service personnel.

The gas supply in the areas was shut down from the District Regulating Station (DRS) to facilitate repair, he said, adding that it took about five hours to fix the line.

Meanwhile, residents of greater Mirpur, Dhanmondi, and Mohammadpur had to suffer a lot due to the disconnection of gas lines for nearly eight hours on Friday.

Fire Service and Civil Defence sources said the fire occurred around 4:41am.

Two firefighting units rushed to the spot and doused the flame around 4:54am, said Lima Khanom, duty officer of the fire service headquarters control room. 

No causality was reported.

Masuma Akhter Rimi, an officer at a private company and also a resident of Mirpur 7's Mallicka Housing, said like other days, she went to the kitchen to make breakfast but found that there was no gas on the supply line.

Finding no alternative, she had to cook with a rice cooker, she said.

Ratan, a resident of Kazipara, said they ended up cooking khichuri in a rice cooker.

Long queues were seen in local restaurants in areas where the gas supply was stopped.