Panic in Dhaka over gas smell: Titas claims to have solved the problem
Titas Gas officials claimed that they have fixed the problem that caused gas leak in different areas of Dhaka on Monday night.
On Tuesday morning, multiple officials of Titas have told Prothom Alo that the problem was fixed at midnight by its emergency and technical team and there is no more gas smell in any part of the capital.
Deputy general manager (DGM) of Titas gas Sakhawat Hossain told Prothom Alo on Tuesday morning, the overflow caused by the increased pressure on the transmission and distribution line has been fixed.
When asked why did the gas pressure increase, Sakhawat referred to the explanation given by the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources last night.
System operations department can explain the matter in details, he added.
Earlier, the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources explained the reason behind the gas smell in Facebook post published at 12:00am on Monday night.
In the Facebook post the ministry said, “As gas supply to factories are shut down during Eid, the gas pressure in transmission and distribution line increased, causing (overflow) the smell.”
The ministry asked the people not to panic, “Titas’s emergency and technical team is working on it”. It also gave Titas’s hotline number 16496 in the post.
The state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid shared the post, asking the citizens not to panic.
Earlier, at around 11:00pm on Monday, news of gas smell started coming from different areas of the capital. Residents of Moghbazar, Eskaton, Rampura, East Rajabazar, Tejgaon, Crescent Road, Bashundhara Residential Area, Badda and Hazaribag complained of smelling gas in the air.
In many areas, announcements were made from local mosques requesting the people to not turn on gas stoves or light match sticks.
The news of a gas leak first came from Rampura. The locals dialed the national emergency number 999 and the police came to the spot to investigate.
Rampura Police Station’s officer-in-charge Rafiqul Islam told Prothom Alo at around 11:00pm, “the police officers smelled the gas at the spot. We have informed Titas. The Titas officials will look into it and take the necessary steps.”
Many panicked citizens posted on Facebook about the gas smell. Many of them complained that they tried to contact Titas using the hotline number but couldn’t reach them.
Some anxious citizens also rang the Fire Service. A source at the Fire Service informed that they received multiple calls at night, but haven’t received any such calls on Tuesday.