Reza Mahmud :
Flames are not ablaze in the cooking burners at day time in most in the areas of the capital city for long.
Homemakers are suffering most due to the acute gas shortages which makes them compelled to cook day time meals at night. Meanwhile, buying of LPG cylinder at increasing prices also make the people tired.
“The gas is found at night only. It comes right in the evening and goes before the sun rise,” Sayeda Nurunnahar, a homemaker in Jurain-Postogola area told The New Nation on Saturday.
Nurunnahar said that she and the other women of the vast area used to cook their day time meals at night.
“It seemed that it is the time of fasting in Ramzan. As such we used to prepare our daily meals at night only,” said Jebunnesa Khanom, another homemaker from Gandaria area.
They could not sleep well at night on account of preparing family members’ meals.
“Is it possible and acceptable that we pay the government increasing amount of money but they are ignoring our need for gas month after month,” questioned Mumtahina Mahfuz from Mirpur area.
Mumtahina is a teacher in a local Kindergarten school.
She and some other female teachers of the school said that gas crisis has made their life exhausted.
They said that most of the women of their areas failed to sleep in night well due to the tension of cooking food.
“We are compelled to serve stale food instead of warm food to our family members including children. It is not possible to serve hot foods as those are prepared long before serving due the gas crisis,” Tahmina Khanom, another homemaker from Malibagh area told The New Nation.
The mothers said that their children showed anger to eat stale food instead of warm and hot items, but they are helpless.
The frustrated people said that in one hand the government has increased prices of household supply of gas from Tk 975 to Tk 1080 on the other hand, they decreased gas supplying in ovens.
As a result they have been compelled to buy gas cylinders prices also hiked seriously.
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission recently increased the price of liquefied petroleum gas for a 12-kg cylinder by
Tk 12 by fixing the new price of the cylinder at Tk 1,254.
The people are suffering most on buying gas cylinders in high prices.
However gas crisis does not exist everywhere. Baganbari, Khilgaon is the exception.
When contacted, Titas Managing Director Harunur Rashid Mollah told The New Nation, “Gas shortage is prevailing here. As a result adequate pressure of gas is not possible in any areas right now.” He said.
The MD, however, said that the crisis will be eliminated by next month hopefully.
