CITY dwellers at many wards including Mohammadpur, Adabor, Lalmatia, Dhanmondi, Eskaton, Indira Road, Razabazar, Green Road and Jigatola continue to face hardships due to gas crisis that pushes them to crowd restaurants for dining. People are forced to spend more on regular meals when most of the city dwellers are undergoing income loss for Covid-19 economic impact. Proper coordination among the government agencies can salvage people. However, no agency is accountable to the people for its wrongdoings.
The problem began after one of Titas Gas transmission feeder lines was damaged on Monday as construction work was underway at Salehpur Bridge over the Turag River in Amin Bazar. Titas blamed the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), saying the pipeline was damaged by an RHD contractor. The RHD claimed they were unaware of the existence of the pipeline but Titas claimed they did take permission during the installation of the line. The wrangle between the services providers makes the people suffer. Unable to get gas at home to cook food, most of the affected people flocked to restaurants. Others used electric cookers. Under the circumstances, restaurants in those areas, which mainly use gas cylinders, made good profits. Many affected people expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in fixing the problem.
In a megacity like Dhaka, where we are seeing rapid urbanisation it is quite baffling to see many people being deprived of something as basic as regular supply of gas. And all for the lack of planning and coordination among the organisations that must work together in order for the city to function seamlessly. It is high time for all agencies responsible for the city’s utility services to cooperate and coordinate with each other and carry out their work in a manner that is beneficial to city dwellers.
