When will the age-old, faulty Titas gas lines be replaced?

It could turn into a massive disaster in areas like Moghbazar, Badda, Bashabo, Dhanmondi, Hazaribagh and East Rajabazar where Titas gas pipeline leaked and was spreading the smell of gas all around. In these places, according to yesterday reports, the panicked city residents on Monday prompted mosques to use their public announcement system for asking households not to switch on their stoves and people to refrain from smoking cigarettes. Their fear was that any time an explosion or an incident of fire can devastate their areas.

In these days of superior technology, gas could leak out in multiple places creating panic among residents is really disconcerting. The government is also spending huge money in the name of development.

For Monday’s gas leakage at many points, the Titas Gas managing director gave an instant explanation. He said that many gas distribution lines are 40 years old and expired 10 years ago. They had already sent a DPP [Development Project Plan] to the Planning Ministry for replacing those pipes under what the Titas MD called would be a ‘mega’ project.

For the last two months Dhaka City witnessed frequent fire incidents. Who knows the faulty gas line in the capital might be the reason for some of these incidents when the relevant enquiring authorities including the Fire Service Department remained clueless about the source of this fire.

According to Titas MD there are 13,200-kilometre-long distribution lines under the Titas’s jurisdiction. Replacing this huge network of lines needs a huge amount of money. But taking up a ‘mega’ project means a mega opportunity for mega corruption.

Titas Gas claimed that they had solved the problem an hour after they came to know about the matter. But experts said that the problem has not been completely fixed and there are still chances of disaster. The urban planners and engineers also said that the gas pipe leakages still pose a big threat of explosions and large fire incidents. Therefore, the Monday night’s gas-leak incident should be taken as a wake-up call to replace the old and worn-out gas lines to avert a major disaster.