Stemming the deepening gas crisis

The scale of public suffering caused by a sudden disruption of gas supply from Thursday night to 1.1 million household consumers in the greater Chattogram division is no less than catastrophic. According to official confirmation, a technical glitch in the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Maheshkhali is responsible for the abrupt and complete interruption in gas supply in areas that fall under Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL). The gas crisis stretched from Chattogram, Feni and Noakhali to even some areas in Cumilla and Narayanganj, which caused widespread miseries to households, brought production to a screeching halt in factories and paralysed the transport system. The situation improved slightly on Saturday following partial resumption of gas supply by a floating LNG terminal in Maheshkhali.
Chattogram is hit the hardest as the city is entirely dependent on imported LNG and the national gas line doesn't have adequate supply to provide backup support. Worse still, as no prior notice was served regarding the disruption, the city dwellers were totally caught off guard. They woke up on Friday morning to find that their gas stoves were not firing, prompting them to rush to hotels to buy food, but many eateries couldn't serve the customers as they too couldn't cook anything in want of gas. Consequently, many city dwellers suffered a food shortage, while some hotels and restaurants charged exorbitantly high prices for the limited foodstuff they could sell. In a word, the gas disruption wreaked havoc on the city, causing untold sufferings to residents in the affected area.
The energy division sent a press note apologising for the inconvenience caused to the public, but a great disservice had already been done to the latter on account of the sudden disruption of a crucial utility service without prior notice. Meanwhile, power generation is now also under threat because of the inadequate supply of gas. Since the country is becoming increasingly reliant on imported LNG to meet the demand for gas, the technical and regulatory failure must not be taken lightly or swept under the carpet. Rather, it should serve as an eye-opener to develop robust LNG terminals and supply systems for the future. The authorities must also launch an inquiry to ascertain what exactly caused the technical glitch and why it couldn't be solved promptly, especially when the problem is bound to trigger widespread public sufferings.
Apart from the crisis in Chattogram, the overall gas supply across the country, especially in most parts of Dhaka is also poor. People are extremely unhappy, even dejected, with the short supply of gas. In many parts of Dhaka, households are getting enough gas supply only at midnight as there is a huge gap between supply and demand. At the moment, the government has no alternative other than increasing LNG imports and making the supply chain dependable and sustainable to address the crisis. Given that the government is also struggling to foot energy import bills because of the dwindling reserves and dollar crisis, it should further tighten its belt on unnecessary import and foreign trips, which are draining the forex reserves. If the crisis in Chattogram servers any lesson, it is that ensuring an uninterrupted energy supply should be a priority.