Gas crisis in the capital has become acute

An acute crisis of household supply of gas has hit the capital multiplying the sufferings of its residents.

According to a daily report, gas supply is absent or low in many places like Mohammadpur, Kamrangirchar, Mohakhali, Pallabi, Kafrul, Shewrapara, Mirpur-10, Rayerbagh, Bhuter Goli, Green Road, Kalabagan, Kanthalbagan, Mogbazar, Basabo, Arambagh, Lalbagh, Jatrabari, and Postgola. In areas like Uttara, Malibagh, Rampura, Badda and Mugda gas crisis has become an everyday affair.

Yet the authorities at the Titus Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited are downplaying the problem, calling the supply of gas “slightly less” than the demand.

While there is a shortage of gas at other times of the year, there is some relief as the consumption in power plants decreases in winter. But this time at the beginning of winter, a terrible crisis has arisen.

The reality is gas supply has been reduced due to the shutdown of a LNG terminal. It is not sure when the authorities will overcome this problem as the country is going through a deep financial crisis.

It is not only the households in the capital; gas crisis is prevailing in the country’s industrial sector also.

Last year, the government increased gas prices by promising to provide uninterrupted gas.

But it could not keep its promise. As a result, industrial production has decreased and many factory owners are failing to pay workers properly.

Reportedly, the country’s gas demand is about 4 thousand 300 million cubic feet per day.

But the supply is far less, only close to two and a half thousand million cubic feet.

Due to this huge deficit, the production of industries has decreased by 40 to 50 percent. In such a situation, production costs are increasing while keeping factories running with alternative fuels.

It is unfortunate for us in Bangladesh that even after spending billions of dollars in the energy sector, energy poverty still remains a major problem for the majority of Bangladesh households as they do not have adequate access to electricity and clean cooking fuel.

This is both true for the urban and rural households. The truth is the government’s vaunted claim of achieving energy security has just fallen on the ground.