Sufferings of travelling public continue to mount
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
FE Report
Sufferings of the travelling public continue to mount following closure of CNG filling stations for six hours daily since early last month.
The filling station owners said on Monday that they would sit next Saturday in Dhaka to take decision on next course of action against the government decision to keep the stations shut.
Zakir Hossain Nayan, general secretary of the CNG filling station owners' association told the FE that they would call strike from mid-October against the closure if the government does not withdraw its decision as their business faces serious challenge.
The government in early August asked the owners to close operation of the CNG filling stations across the country from 3:00pm to 9:00pm with effect from August 16, to save gas to feed power generation plants and household uses during Ramadan.
Gas supply was also stopped from the same time to the KAFCO fertiliser factory for the same reason.
Vehicle owners said they have been facing serious problems due to six-hour closure of the filling stations.
Filling station owners said the CNG consumption due to closure of the filling stations has not been reduced much as presently the uses have been dropped by only eight million cubic feet (mcf) per day.
Quoting the Petrobangla's statistics, Mr Nayan said that the CNG consumption has now been dropped to 97mcf daily from previous 105mcf.
The government has, meantime, said it would not withdraw the decision for closure shortly as the gas, saved from the filling stations, is being used to run the power stations.
Energy advisor to the Prime Minister Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said that the government would not change its decision until the supply situation of natural gas in the national grid is improved.
CNG filling stations owners said nearly 0.20 million CNG-run vehicles are facing the hardship of six-hour closure of the filling stations.
"I need to wait in the queue for refuelling of my car everyday in the early morning. If I fail to go there by 4:00 am, I don't get gas in time and reach office by 9:00pm," Sazzad Hossain, a banker in the city's Mohammadpur area told the FE.
The CNG-run auto-rickshaw and taxi-cab drivers are charging double fare, passengers allege.
"The lower-middle and middle-class people have been affected much for the closure of the CNG stations as we have to pay double fare for CNG autorickshaw and cab," Kamrul Ahsan, an executive of a private firm said.
An energy division official said the government wants to continue six-hour closure of the CNG stations to generate maximum power and produce fertiliser in full swing ahead of the Boro season which starts from next month.
He said due to closure of the CNG stations, fertiliser factories and some industrial units got some 100 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas which was saved per day.
Mr Nayan said: "The sale of CNG out side Dhaka city has dropped enormously. Besides, we have faced business problems due to the closure for six-hours in the peak time daily."
The CNG stations under the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) consume about 65mcf of gas and the KAFCO fertiliser factory 63mcf daily.
Petrobangla data showed that the CNG stations across the country consumed nearly 1054 million cubic metre (mcm) of gas worth Tk10.53 billion in last fiscal 2009-10.
In June last, the Petrobangla sold 95.85mcm of gas to the CNG refuelling stations in the country at Tk 977.35 million.
Sufferings of the travelling public continue to mount following closure of CNG filling stations for six hours daily since early last month.
The filling station owners said on Monday that they would sit next Saturday in Dhaka to take decision on next course of action against the government decision to keep the stations shut.
Zakir Hossain Nayan, general secretary of the CNG filling station owners' association told the FE that they would call strike from mid-October against the closure if the government does not withdraw its decision as their business faces serious challenge.
The government in early August asked the owners to close operation of the CNG filling stations across the country from 3:00pm to 9:00pm with effect from August 16, to save gas to feed power generation plants and household uses during Ramadan.
Gas supply was also stopped from the same time to the KAFCO fertiliser factory for the same reason.
Vehicle owners said they have been facing serious problems due to six-hour closure of the filling stations.
Filling station owners said the CNG consumption due to closure of the filling stations has not been reduced much as presently the uses have been dropped by only eight million cubic feet (mcf) per day.
Quoting the Petrobangla's statistics, Mr Nayan said that the CNG consumption has now been dropped to 97mcf daily from previous 105mcf.
The government has, meantime, said it would not withdraw the decision for closure shortly as the gas, saved from the filling stations, is being used to run the power stations.
Energy advisor to the Prime Minister Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said that the government would not change its decision until the supply situation of natural gas in the national grid is improved.
CNG filling stations owners said nearly 0.20 million CNG-run vehicles are facing the hardship of six-hour closure of the filling stations.
"I need to wait in the queue for refuelling of my car everyday in the early morning. If I fail to go there by 4:00 am, I don't get gas in time and reach office by 9:00pm," Sazzad Hossain, a banker in the city's Mohammadpur area told the FE.
The CNG-run auto-rickshaw and taxi-cab drivers are charging double fare, passengers allege.
"The lower-middle and middle-class people have been affected much for the closure of the CNG stations as we have to pay double fare for CNG autorickshaw and cab," Kamrul Ahsan, an executive of a private firm said.
An energy division official said the government wants to continue six-hour closure of the CNG stations to generate maximum power and produce fertiliser in full swing ahead of the Boro season which starts from next month.
He said due to closure of the CNG stations, fertiliser factories and some industrial units got some 100 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas which was saved per day.
Mr Nayan said: "The sale of CNG out side Dhaka city has dropped enormously. Besides, we have faced business problems due to the closure for six-hours in the peak time daily."
The CNG stations under the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) consume about 65mcf of gas and the KAFCO fertiliser factory 63mcf daily.
Petrobangla data showed that the CNG stations across the country consumed nearly 1054 million cubic metre (mcm) of gas worth Tk10.53 billion in last fiscal 2009-10.
In June last, the Petrobangla sold 95.85mcm of gas to the CNG refuelling stations in the country at Tk 977.35 million.