A Tk 3,699-Crore Pipeline Leaking Trust

Bangladesh’s Tk 3,699-crore Chattogram-Dhaka Petroleum Pipeline was meant to serve as a landmark investment to modernise fuel transportation, control pilferage and reduce costs. 
However, barely months after the pipeline’s official inauguration, the project itself has become vulnerable to theft, exposing alarming weaknesses in security, monitoring and operational accountability. it is not merely a case of fuel disappearing , rather a disturbing indictment of institutional negligence.

The approximately 250-kilometre pipeline, whose construction began in 2018, started transporting fuel in June 2024 and was officially inaugurated on 16 August 2025. With an annual transportation capacity of 5 million tonnes, at hindsight it was expected to save Tk 236 crore annually. Such an investment should have been accompanied by rigorous safeguards. Instead, diesel was allegedly stolen through an underground puncture in Mirsharai, Chattogram, while another 375,418 litres supplied to Jamuna Oil’s Fatullah depot with none to hold accountable. And that’s not all, even more troubling is the malfunction of the very technology designed to detect interference. 

An investigation identified that the Pipeline Intrusion Detection System (PIDS) malfunctioned 108 times between 1 October 2025 and 7 January 2026. The Leak Detection System (LDS), meanwhile, remained effectively inactive for 49 days because of technical faults. Neither system alerted the control room when the pipeline was punctured. Irregularities involving unauthorised optical fibre cable joint kits further disrupted PIDS, LDS, SCADA and CCTV operations. We consider these occurrences as more than just operational failures demanding prompt investigation and more than just routine assurances.

The missing diesel figures are equally disturbing. According to Jamuna Oil records, 262,804 litres went unaccounted for between 24 June and 4 July 2025, followed by another 112,614 litres between 14 and 22 September. Investigators also identified discrepancies in the calibration certificates of Fatullah depot's storage tanks Numbers 22 and 23. In Tank number22, the recorded capacity at a height of 2,000mm fell by 59,204 litres between the 2018 and 2025 reports. Although the contractor suggested a possible printing error, but failing to verify the draft report raises serious questions. There are enough reasons to believe that around 250,000 litres were stolen through manipulation remain unproven and warrant an independent enquiry.

The separate theft of 4,292 litres of condensate over two days through an illegal connection to a national gas grid pipeline in Madhabpur, Habiganj, reinforces concerns about energy infrastructure security. GTCL has filed a case against some five people, including a former union parishad member.

Now whatever damage had been inflicted, it is time for the government to move beyond damage control �" ensure independent technical audits, accurate metering at all ends third-party tank calibration, automated inventory reconciliation and introduce round-the-clock surveillance. Those responsible for negligence or deliberate manipulation must face music, irrespective of position.

Concurrently, policymakers must address the livelihoods of thousands of tanker workers, sailors and vessel employees affected by the shift towards pipeline transportation - modernisation must not become an excuse for social neglect. A pipeline worth Tk 3,699 crore must deliver security and efficiency, and not become another symbol of weak governance. Protecting it is a national responsibility.