Acute gas crisis in Dhaka capital city: commercial began to Paralyze, commoners facing untold sufferings

 // Shamsul Basunia//

Since the winter set in, acute gas crisis have seen here and there in the Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka. Production fall, coupled with an increased demand, is adversely affecting the gas supply in the capital, said a Titas official.

Family members often make the next day's breakfast and lunch along with the dinner to save themselves from worrying over the gas supply which becomes normal around 10:00pm, but only for a few hours every day.

To cope with this, homemakers of the capital area have started using an induction cook top and an electric rice-cooker. "But this is likely to significantly increase the electricity bill, which may become a financial burden for a middle-income family like them. There are 11 filling stations between Jatrabari and Jurain and all of those have been hit by the crisis.

Insufficient pressure of supply forces the refueling stations to keep the services shut for as long as five to 10 hours a day.Since the winter began, daily sale has dropped to Tk 70,000-80,000 from around Tk 1.5 lakh a day.

The government order to keep the gas stations shut from 5:00pm to 9:00pm every day was aggravating their sufferings, said the victims. "The restriction should be lifted, especially in winter."

For the capital, they supply 1,800-1,900mmcfd gas which, a man in authority claims, is enough to meet the regular demand.But during the winter, the gas consumption increases by 10 percent which causes the crisis for the city dwellers, he says.

Asked why household gas consumption increases in winter, another Titas official said this happens because city-dwellers widely use their gas stoves to dry clothes and boil water for everyday use.