JGTDSL to give new gas connections in Sylhet defying govt order

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FHM Humayan Kabir The Jalalabad gas distribution company will give new gas connections to households and commercial establishments in Sylhet defying government's suspension order on new connections across the country, officials said Monday. Energy ministry officials said they want to bring four additional upazilas in Sylhet district under gas supply system as it will upgrade the distribution network there. The Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd (JGTDSL) will give new connections to 5,000 households, 200 commercial establishments, 35 industries, 40 captive power plants and 42 tea gardens in those upazilas, an energy ministry official said. The government has suspended giving new gas connections for commercial use since 2009 and domestic gas connections since July 2010 in a bid to make available gas to the existing consumers. The suspension order has already affected the country's booming real estate sector and newly set-up manufacturing industries, especially those in the capital city and its adjacent areas. An energy ministry official said: "We have taken up a Tk 910 million project in greater Sylhet to upgrade the gas supply network there." Under the project, the state-owned JGTDSL will set up 114 kilometres of new distribution pipelines and connect four upazilas in Sylhet district. The country has a shortage of nearly 500 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) against its demand for more than 2500 mmcfd. The energy ministry official said if the gas connections are provided to the new consumers in Sylhet, some eight mmcfd additional gas will be required there. "Since Sylhet region is a gas-rich area, we have taken the programme to offer fresh connections to the new consumers in that area," he said. Under the new schemes, the JGTDSL will supply gas to Balaganj, Rajanagar, Osmaninagar and Bishawnath upazilas of Sylhet district. Country's major divisional towns including Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal are still out of gas supply coverage which is a key impediment on the way to industrialisation in those regions. Jalalabad gas system currently has a network of 3,117.51 km pipeline, including 423.97 km transmission and 1,244.80 km distribution lines with a customer base of 147,344 including 11 power and one fertiliser plants. JGTDSL supplies nearly 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas per year to the consumers where power plants alone consume nearly 28.5 bcf.