Low gas pressure hits Ctg industries, domestic burners

CHITTAGONG, Feb 23: Gas shortage has become a never-ending problem in the commercial capital of Bangladesh. Low pressure of gas in thousands of domestic burners has added mounting owes to the city dwellers.
Almost the entire port city with a population of six million is suffering from low pressure of gas resulting in suspension of cooking from 6.00 am to 2.00 pm on all weekdays in most of the kitchens. But lucky ones are the staff and officers living in the housing quarters of the concerned authority.
On the other hand, severe gas shortage in Chittagong region's steel plants and other industrial and commercial units has led to production suspension. The city's transportation system is also suffering a lot.  
Officials at the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Co Ltd (KGDCL) in the port city said there will be no respite from gas crisis until April this year.
An official told the FE this afternoon that the condensate of gas disrupts its flow in the pipeline during the winter  season for which the pressure line has come down abnormally.
The city dwellers can expect normal supply of gas from next April as gas from the two fertiliser plants - CUFL and KAFCO - will be diverted to irrigation by that time, said Engineer Shahid Ali, General Manager (Engineering Services) of the KGDCL.  
"Gazprom is likely to give some 15 million cubic feet of gas a day by June 2014 as it is drilling the Semutang-6 in the gas field of Khagrachhari," he said. The Russian company started work in the gas field a month back, he said. Entrepreneurs said the industries are corporate consumers. The unilateral and arbitrary decision of the government agencies concerned forces them to suspend production causing huge financial and business losses. It is unacceptable and unfortunate, the trade body leaders in the city said.
In a statement to the Advisor for Energy and Mineral Resources last Monday, Md Khalilur Rahman, president of the Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the city's transportation sector has been experiencing an anarchic situation as the CNG (compressed natural gas) filling stations are running severe shortage of gas.
Gas pressure in the CNG stations has come down below one-fourth, apart from gas staggering for six hours a day from 3.00 pm to 9.00 pm, Mr Rahman said.
Normal socio-economic development activities have been obstructed due to least production and suspension of gas supply. "About 200 industrial enterprises in Chittagong could not go for production for over a year after investing billions of taka," he said in the letter. The Bangladesh Manobadhikar Foundation in its human chain on Saturday raised the demand for appointing an enquiry committee to investigate if there is any act of sabotage by officials of the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Co Ltd.
"The gas crisis in the port city has reached such an alarming point that we can suspect if there is any act of sabotage by the officials of the KGDCL. We urge the government high-ups to immediately form an inquiry committee in this respect," said Mr Azizul Huq Chowdhury Khokan in his speech at the programme oganised in front of the Chittagong Press Club Saturday afternoon.
The Chittagong city unit of BNP organised two protest programmes last week demanding restoration of gas line in the newly-established industries and increase pressure of gas in the domestic burners.
When the Petrobangla boasts of increasing gas production by about 700 million cubic feet (mmcf), the state-owned energy enterprise has reduced its earlier volume by over 20 reaching below 200 mmcf per day against the demand of around 390 mmcfd, the Secretary of the city BNP said.
Resumption of gas supply to Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd (CUFL) after 10 months of suspension has further aggravated gas crisis in Chittagong region. Gas supply to all power plants in the region now remains suspended.