Kazi Zahidul Hasan :The ongoing gas crisis in Dhaka city and its adjacent area has worsened further with dip in temperature creating immense sufferings to both household and commercial consumers.Almost similar gas crisis has been reported in various areas of Dhaka city including Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Tejgaon, Jatrabari Shewrapara, Kafrul, East Rajabazar, Mirpur, Pallabi, Kazipara, Taltola, Shyamoli, Khilgaon, Malibag and Mughda and its adjacent Tongi and Narayanganj on Monday.Earlier in the morning, residents of Narayangang city exposed anger over the continuous gas crisis by staging protest march against the officials of state-owned gas distribution companies. The residents said gas shortage has created various problems in their household living, but the authorities concerned are yet to show their concern over this matter.Admitting the matter, a senior Titas Gas official told The New Nation on Monday that a large part of capital Dhaka city and its nearby areas are now in the grip of a severe gas crisis as a result of supply shortage created by extreme winter and technical glitch in transmission lines. He said, not only household consumers, commercial and industrial users are also not getting sufficient gas to run their businesses and productions. “Gas production-supply mismatch and illegal gas connections are mainly responsible for the ongoing gas crisis,” Md Nowshad Islam, Managing Director (MD) of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, told The New Nation on Monday. He added, a technical glitch has also occurred in distribution lines in the areas runs with gas crisis resulting in gas crisis. “Condensate usually develops in pipe lines during extreme winter lowering the gas pressure,” he said, adding, “This also happens this time affecting smooth flow of gas in pipelines”. When asked, he said, “We have no equipment to clear this condensate from pipelines. The Titas MD also mentioned that in the capital, there are pipe lines with widths of one to 1.5 inches which cannot bear the necessary pressure of gas flow. Without replacement of the old and narrow pipes, with wider ones gas supply may not improve in the city. Monowara Begum, a resident of the city’s Mirpur area, told The New Nation yesterday that her house remains out of gas supply for about seven to eight hours for the last few days creating difficulties to prepare meals for my family.She added that gas supply of her area has been woefully low between 8am and 5pm every day for the last few days. “Now, I have to wake up at 5am to prepare breakfast and lunch for my family to overcome the situation,” she said. “The flow of gas has dimmed in the last two days apparently drying the cooking burners. I can’t cook food for my family and even boil water to drink,” Fatema Begum, a house wife in Tongi area, told The New Nation on Monday.She also said that her family expenditure had increased as all the meals now have to be cooked in a kerosene stove.Moreover, owners of the city’s CNG-filling stations are also bearing the brunt of the ongoing gas crisis forcing them to shut down their stations in most of the time a day. “CNG stations tuned dry due to low pressure of gas,” Masud Khan, President of CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners’ Association, told The New Nation on Monday night.He added: The current situation has largely affected our business transaction leading to incur huge losses.
