Reza Mahmud :
The city residents in many areas of the capital city have been suffering from acute gas crisis for long.
Consequently, it has been hard to cook foods for the family members in time for which many of them leave for their offices, schools and business centres half-fed or without taking meals.
“The adults have, however, opportunities to take food in hotels and restaurants and at fast food shops but the females and the kids cannot.” said Tahmina Sharif, a mother of one year old kid from Jurain in Old Dhaka. Gas is found in burner after 6:00am.
Mustafizur Rahman, a Mirpur resident working for a private office in Motijheel, said he hardly can take breakfast prepared at his house due to the gas crisis.
“Most of the family members in the morning leave without taking breakfast as foods cannot be cooked in time. I go to restaurant for my breakfast on the way of office on the most working days,” Mustafiz said.
His colleagues, neighbors and relatives living in different parts of Mirpur narrated almost same thing.
Meanwhile, in Jigatola and adjacent areas, the gas crisis used to start after 11:00 am.
“We can cook our breakfast with the pipeline gas easily, but the gas crisis used to start after 11:00am. We used to cook our midday meals before the noon,” said Lina Afroz, a resident of Jigatola area.
Like Tahmina, Lina and Mustafiz, people from many areas including Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Mirhajeerbagh, Dayagonj, Mugda, Manda, Mathertek, Basabo, Jigatola, Rajabazar, Indira Road, Pirerbagh, Hazaribagh, Bosila, Adabar, West Agargaon, Lalbag, Sobhanbag, Indira Road, Tanti Bazar, Shakharibazar, Kamrangirchar, Dakhinkhan, Uttarkhan and South Banasree said that steps should be taken to relieve them from uncertain availability of gas.
Alternatively, most of the residents of those areas are using LPG gas cylinders to prepare family members meals due to gas supply crisis through the pipelines.
“It is a bitter experience to pay Tk 975 every month for gas burners and buy LPG Cylinder at a time for cooking food,” said Mustafiz.
Officials from the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited said increase in demand, faulty supply lines and illegal connections are the major reasons behind the crisis.
When contacted, Engineer Md. Haronur Rashid Mollah Managing Director, Managing Director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited told The New Nation on Thursday, “The problem relates to short upply. The mill-industries and commercial use of the gas increased which may be one of the household sufferings.
Still it is hoped that there will be adequate supply soon.
