Gas crisis during Ramadan

It is not a sudden catastrophe that gas supply in the capital city Dhaka can be hindered during the month of Ramadan. The policymakers were well aware from long ago that the people would suffer more during Ramadan. It is true too that a vessel carrying 3000 million cft of LNG from Qatar arrived on 23 April at Maheskhali. It was declared at the time with great fanfare that the gas supply from Qatar would be added to the national grid from the beginning of May. Unfortunately, due to the dire lack of skills and coordination, no one has the slightest idea of when this gas will actually enter the national grid.

We apprehend that this will not be possible in the current month of May. There is also no sign of getting additional gas from any of the sources where gas production can be speedily increased. And the matter of most concern is that the government has nothing to say in this regard. Due to this being an election year, when the government has spoken of uninterrupted power and gas supply, many people thought this would surely materialise. But in reality, such promises have gone up in thin air. The people’s sufferings during Ramadan have crossed all limits.

The daily demand for gas in the capital city is 2000 million cft. On Saturday, Titas didn’t even receive 1600 million cft. Yet even just a month and a half ago they were getting 1700 million cft daily. Let alone any additional supply during Ramadan, it is not being possible to keep up the previous level of supply. In fact, it is decreasing.

There was a way to provide some relief to the people. This was to keep gas stations temporarily shut and supply the saved gas during peak hours. Yet it is stupefying to see this simple management tangled up in bureaucratic red tape, though the Titas Gas and Petrobangla office are at walking distance from each other in Karwan Bazar.

With stoves not being lit in time and thousands of households suffering, there had been a rule to keep gas stations closed during Ramadan. However, that did not yield satisfactory results. Titas Gas had asked Petrobangla on Sunday to keep the gas stations closed from 3:00pm to 9:00pm every day instead of 5:00pm to 11:00pm every evening. They said that normally 10:00am to 1:00pm is the peak hour, but this peak hour changes to 2:00pm to 5:00pm, just before Iftar, during Ramadan. So the gas saved by closing the gas station from 5:00pm to 11:00pm does not really come to use during the hours between 2:00pm and 5:00pm. This is matter of such simple logic. Why did Petrobangla fix a schedule for the closure of gas stations without consulting Titas Gas at first? This is a glaring example of the lack of coordination.

The people’s sufferings due to the shortage of gas could have been alleviated to a great extent if the gas from Qatar could have been added to the national grid. Yet simply due to the lack of management abilities, the people of the capital city are being deprived. We demand an explanation from the energy ministry about the delay in supplying Accelerate Energy’s gas which lies in Maheshkhali. The people too much be responsible is the frugal use of gas.