THE ongoing gas crisis in the city is likely to linger for at least another week as engineers have found it difficult to fix the technical problem in an LNG supply line in Cox’s Bazar. The households and businesses across the country are experiencing supply shortages since Saturday night when a valve of the off-shore LNG terminal at Matarbari in Moheshkhali stopped functioning. Gas supply from the reservoir, which has a supply capacity of 500 million cubic feet a day remains suspended since then, leaving the distribution system in chaos. There is no alternative channel to provide emergency gas supply.
In the capital’s Mohammadpur, Jatrabari, Mirpur, Uttara and Tongi areas, there is no gas after 8:00 am until around 4:00 pm. After resuming 4:00 pm for about two hours then the pressure gets low till 9:00 pm. For years, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited and Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd, subsidiaries of Petrobangla — have been running short of gas as demands grow. However, the supply got a boost since August 18 when the KGDCL started feeding 300mmcfd liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a ship anchored on the Bay of Bengal through the Matarbari reservoir. The vessel carrying country’s first imported consignment of 1.37 lakh cubic feet of LNG from Qatar anchored in the Bay on April 24. Since then several deadlines had expired for gas transmission to the reservoir due to technical problems. Finally, on August 18, the supply began in Chattogram.
To ease the crisis in Chattogram, the Gas Transmission Company Ltd, another subsidiary of Petrobangla, is now supplying about 200-220mmcfd of gas from the national grid to some 6 lakh customers, including households, in the port city. This is creating a shortfall in Dhaka and its adjacent areas. In June last year, Titas Gas had 27.34 lakh consumers — 21.17 lakh of them households. It distributes gas in 12 districts including Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj.
We urge the authorities concerned to fix the problem immediately and provide gas through household pipelines.
