Gas crisis brings firm output to their knees
Reza Mahmud :
Acute gas crisis pushed industrial output in brink, insiders said.
Large and medium sized industry owners used to purchasing gas from the government to meet their demand during the gas crisis but failed to get sufficient supplies.
As a result, the industry owners failed to keep their captive electricity plants on operation.
The industrial outputs have been declined to 25 to 30 percent due to such a gas crisis, industry insiders said.
Sources from Petrobangla and industry sectors said that about 40 percent of pipeline supplies gas used for producing electricity.
Meanwhile, the authorities are now giving importance on the demands of the upcoming Boro paddy season. They are now keeping adequate gas supplies to fertiliser industries for meeting the demands of Boro paddy cultivations.
The impact of this has been found in the industrial areas in Gazipur, Narayanganj and Dhaka seriously.
Besides, the residential areas of Dhaka also suffering from acute gas crisis in burners.
The CNG stations of the capital city found closed most in the time in the day due to inadequate pressures of gas.
Meanwhile, Excelerate Energy (Excelerate), a US-based LNG company, operating in Moheshkhali, Cox’sbazar has suspended its gas supplying as it is now under repairing work of the company’s floating LNG terminal.
A part of the Excelerate imported LNG used to add to the national supply line.
But the Petrobangla sources claimed that the ongoing repairing work of the Excelerate does not fell any impact on the current gas crisis.
Whereas, the Petrobangla yet to show any hope that how and when the gas crisis would be solved.
Sources said the total demand of the gas in the country is about 4,200 million cubic feet everyday while the Petrobangla is now supplying about 2.5 million cubic feet gas.
The petrobangla has a capability of supplying about three million cubic feet gas everyday normally.
When contacted, Energy expert Professor Dr. Ijaz Hossain told The New Nation on Wednesday, “Dollar crisis is behined the gas crisis in the country. But, now the gas prices has been reduced in international market.
The government has to order for gas from international market in this low price immediately to solve the crisis.”
When contacted, Energy expert Professor Shamsul Alam told The New Nation on Wednesday, “The government has to review its energy policy which is behind the current gas crisis.”
He said the government has to change the status of the energy sector as a service sector instead of the present commercial sector.
He said the small entrepreneurs should create through taking favorable policy.
He also urged the government to bring transparency in engery sector as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Meghna group of Industry has operated 40 of its industrial plants producing its own electricity using the pipeline supplying gas.
The group has three industrial zone in Narayangonj.
The group has forced to suspend 20 of its 40 industrial plants for most in the days due to the ongoing gas crisis.
The industrial plants are now producing only 1,500 tonnes products while it has ability of producing 15,000 tonnes everyday.
The group is now keeps only two paper mills out of four plants in operation and two out of four ceramic factories are keeping in operation by rotation due to the gas crisis.
The industrial group has urged the government to solve the gas crisis immediately while the other industrialists also echoed the same call to the authority.
The readymade garments sector, the knit wear sector and the other industrial sectors also urgently called the government to solve the gas crisis because it shrunken the output below 50 to 30 percent.
The industrialists expressed their anxiety that if the crisis does not solved immediately many of the factories would be closed and the workers would be unemployed which will create irreparable crisis in the national economy.
