UNB, Sunamganj :Tengratila and its surrounding areas under Dowarabazar upazila have turned into ‘pit of death’ for local people as earth stoves, ponds, wells, crop fields or even roads often catchfire without any visible fuel source.Two accidental gas explosions during the drilling of a well in a gas filed under Dowarabazar upazila in 2005 left Tengratila a dangerous open gas source from where gas is emitting continuously, leading to frequent gas leaks and fire incidents. Residents of Tengratila, Ajabpur, Girishnagar, Koiyajuri, Nurpur, Sonapur and Shantipur villages now constantly live amid fears of sudden fire accidents that can pop up anytime, anywhere.The non-stop emission of gas in Tengratila and its adjoining areas is also resulting in wastage of natural gas, the main natural resource of the country critical for its power supply and economic development.Jahanra Begum of Tengratila village said, “Gas leaks are all around my house. I normally cook food based on the ‘free fire’ generated from these gas leaks. This is how I can save fuel cost for cooking purposes but my family always have to live in fear that the house might explode or burn down altogether anytime.”Another fellow village resident, Abul Hossain, showed the UNB correspondent all the gas leaks inside and around his house. When he brought a candle near to the gas leaking out from a crack inside his house, the candle lit up on its own. Hossain said these gas leaks can lead to dangerous accidents.Recently, Mokhtar Hossain of the same village suffered serious burn injuries when he tried to light a cigarette inside his house’s toilet and the lighting lead to a fire in no time owing to a gas leak from the toilet’s pipes.Tengratila gas field witnessed two big gas explosions on January 7 and June 24 in 2005 that destroyed the gas reserve there. After that, the place has been left abandoned and now the gas from the field is leaking out to nearby villages increasing risk of any untoward incident.Last year, 15 – Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) officials visited the gas field and said although gas leaks are quite frequent, they are not likely to cause any big explosion.However, in the last two months, the gas leaks have increased. More and more gas is coming out from the leaks causing panic among villagers.Due to the gas leaks, the underground water reserve in the area has also been badly affected putting villagers in a crisis of safe drinking water supplies.Amid such an adverse scenario, frustrated local residents staged several human chain programmes in protest and to press home their demands of ensuring safety for them from gas leak problems. They have also submitted memorandum to the local administration but nothing effective has been done so far to address the problem.Dowarabazar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Saiful Islam said, “I’ve received the memorandum given by the local residents. I’ll look into the matter.”Deputy commissioner of the district Sheikh Rafiqul Islam said, “A case is pending with the court regarding Tengratila gas field operations. We cannot do anything until the case is disposed of. Experts have already visited the gas field and said there’s nothing to be worried about it.”
