It is easy for those who can force illegal gas connection

AS it appears, there is no respite from the country’s gas crisis although gas extraction has been increasing in the past four years. Illegal gas connections are being given to industries and domestic units with underhanded dealings occurring between agents, contractors, Titas officials and other opportunists. This national daily, quoting officials, published a news report on Tuesday, which mentioned that 117 new gas connections have been given to industries ‘illegally’ without the knowledge of the relevant gas connection committee. Even, the member-secretary of the committee and chairman of Petrobangla Professor Hossain Monsur was unaware about the issue and he just learnt it later on.
The report said that authorities decided to give gas connections to 29 industries in the first phase and 92 in the second phase after justifying eligibility of the applicants. They have already considered 284 applicants out of 300 which were lying pending with Titas and other gas distribution entities. Earlier, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company gave 1,361 connections to industries, gas stations, commercial establishments and residential quarters in the three years since July 2010. It is alleged that those who had paid Tk 15 to 50 lakh each in underhanded arrangements were given connection within two to three weeks while those who applied through the proper channels had been waiting since then.
During the period from 2009 to 2013, a net total of 510 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas supply was added to the national grid. Though some new gas fields have been discovered, and gas extraction from the existing fields have increased, the national gas crisis remains acute, especially in the industrial sector. In 2010, Petrobangla projected an increase of 1,085 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas by June 2013 but this quantity is roughly half the gas now being supplied across the country. News reports said the country’s current recoverable gas reserves of 16.36 Tcf will be exhausted within the next decade if no new gas fields are discovered. So, the country will have to depend entirely on imported natural gas either through pipelines or liquefied natural gas to meet rising domestic demands.
It is to be noted that around 400 industrial units in the country with investments totalling Tk 20,000 crore could not go for production due to lack of gas connections for the last four years. These bulk gas user-based industries already set up their establishments taking loans from banks and they are becoming defaulters due to delays in their operation. Earlier, Petrobangla had identified that over 117,414 domestic connections were given in violation of the decision of the authorities in the last two and a half years. And the Titas authorities reportedly collected Tk 200 crore as bills from 57,414 illegal connections, while 60,000 consumers did not pay any money for their consumption of gas.
So, the government needs to take effective measures to stop illegal gas connections. The administrative set-up of the state-owned marketing and distribution companies should be streamlined in order to ensure healthy gas management in the country. At the same time, more exploration is necessary to increase the recoverable reserves.