City dwellers facing acute gas crisis

Almost every day city dwellers are facing acute gas crisis even after the Energy Ministry cut the supply of gas to CNG filling stations and fertilizer factories. Many residents complained that the pressure of gas is so low that very often they cannot lighten their ovens causing immense sufferings during the holy month of Ramadan. Uttara and adjacent areas, Badda, Banasri, Rampura, Khilgaon, Sutrapur, Gendaria, Lalbagh and other areas in the old town, Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Shyamoli, Segunbagicha, Tikatuli, Gopibagh, and Dhalpur are mostly experiencing severe gas shortage.

"The domestic use of gas increases by 10-20 percent during Ramadan," a senior official of Titas claimed. Currently, the total demand for gas is 2050 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) while they can supply only 1750 mmcfd, a shortage of 300 mmcfd is already here, he said.  "We could be able to address the issue only when the supply of Liquid Natural Gas or LNG begins," the Titas official said. According to him, people cook five times a day during the month of Ramadan instead of thrice a day earlier. Titas said they received about 46.73 mmcfd of gas a day against a demand for over 53.81 mmcfd.