Natural gas crisis is now affecting all sorts of consumers, including industries, power plants, and commercial and household users, resulting in cut in industrial output and untold sufferings of the commoners.
Although the government increased gas tariff by up to 178.88 per cent for industries assuring them of 'uninterrupted' gas supply, they are now in a fix due to the crisis, it has been alleged.
"We are not getting sufficient natural gas, which is badly hampering industrial output," Executive President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem told the FE on Wednesday.
It seems that the government is enforcing area-based gas rationing without informing the consumers, he noted.
If natural gas is found in some areas in the morning, they are not getting it in the evening. Similarly, if the industries get gas in the evening, they are not getting it in the morning, Mr Hatem alleged.
Industrial output dropped to 50-70 per cent as the consequences.
"We are now shocked. It seems that there is nobody to look after the problem."
Industrial consumers agreed to pay higher prices, hoping to get 'uninterrupted' supply, but it is now a 'far cry,' he added.
The compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations are getting lower than expected gas pressure, which is hampering CNG filling in vehicles, General Secretary of Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association Farhan Noor told the FE.
"Natural gas pressure requirement in the CNG filling stations is around 15 per square inch (psi). But the stations near some industrial areas often get around 4-5 psi, and in other areas it turns to almost zero psi," he alleged.
The power plants are also not getting required gas to generate electricity.
Some one and a half dozen gas-fired power plants are now shut, as the state-run Petrobangla could supply around 1,140 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas to the plants against their 2,174 mmcfd demand.
Residents of different areas in the city are facing acute gas crisis and failing to cook food using the fuel, although they are paying gas bills to the government, it has been alleged.
Commoners of Mirpur, Gabtoli, Savar, Bashabo, Khilgaon and Paltan areas are the worst affected.
When contacted, Managing Director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) Md Haronur Rashid Mullah said the present gas crisis is due to short supply of gas against demand.
"We are getting around 1,700 mmcfd of gas against our demand of around 2,200 mmcfd," he justified.
The country's natural gas output is currently hovering around 2,768 mmcfd, of which 581 mmcfd is regasified imported LNG, according to Petrobangla statistics as on July 11.
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