Stoves out of gas, cooking turns into a hassle

Due to the gas crisis, stoves in most areas of the capital can't be used during the day. The gas supply remains normal only from the dead of the night till dawn. But the gas comes to almost no use during those hours.

Many who have the ability are now resorting to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders alongside using pipeline gas. This raises their family expenditure. Low income people have found themselves in a tight spot.

Many people from different areas of the capital rang Prothom Alo office on Saturday with complaints about the gas crisis. They said even a few days ago, there used to be gas flow in the morning till 8 to 9am. The situation has exacerbated further now.

Gas pressure declines as soon as the clock hits 5.00am. The gas pressure after that allows the flame on the stove to flicker only and that comes to no help while cooking.

The same information was found from the emergency grievance redress centre of the gas supplying company Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, based on the complaints from people of different areas in the capital. They are saying that they too are getting complaints for a month that the gas pressure is low in different areas of the capital.

It has been learnt that more complaints on the gas crisis are coming from capital’s Mohammadpur, Panthapath, Kathalbagan, Kalabagan, Mirpur, Puran Dhaka, Jatrabari, Mugda, Manda, Badda and Bashundhara areas.

Meanwhile, many complained about the gas crisis from Gulshan, Banani and Badda areas as well on Saturday.

However, Titas had already notified beforehand that gas supply in Tejgaon, Mohakhali, Gulshan, Banani, Natun Bazar and Badda areas would remain closed from 2.00 to 11.00pm on Saturday for emergency maintenance.

Ahsan Kabir, a resident of Panthapath area complained to Prothom Alo, he has no time to cook upon returning home after office. So, he has to be done with all the cooking in the morning.

But that’s no longer possible for the gas pressure going down early in the morning. He’s now forced to buy and eat restaurant food.

Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Minreral Corporation (Petrobangla) sources say that the daily requirement of gas is 3.8 billion cubic feet. Maximum 3.2 billion cubic feet of gas was supplied once. In fact, 3 billion cubic feet of gas was supplied daily even a month ago.

For the past one month, 2.75 cubic feet of gas is being supplied every day. Only 480 million cubic feet of that is being supplied from LNG.

The pair of floating LNG terminals is supposed to supply 850 million cubic feet of gas daily. But the import was slashed down, for the price went up in the global market.

The government stopped importing LNG from the open market last July. The gas crisis has arisen because of this.

Responsible Titas officials said that the available gas supply doesn’t correspond with the demand. This has reduced the gas pressure in the pipeline. Customers are complaining on a regular basis. But, they are unable to come up with a solution. Their demand of gas per day is 1.8 to 1.9 billion cubic feet. But currently they are getting about 1.6 billion cubic feet.

City dwellers buying LPG cylinders are not in a comfortable state either. Even if there’s no gas supply, they are still bound to pay Tk 1,080 as the monthly bill. Meanwhile, the LPG price is increasing regularly.

Even after Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) fixing the price, 12-kg LPG cylinders are selling at a price at least Tk 200 more in the market. As a result, a single cylinder of gas is costing around Tk 1,500.

Falling victim to the gas crisis, Md Fakhrul Islam, a private sector employee from Manda area raised a placard in protest, at Mugda Biswa Road area last Friday. He questioned in his placard why there’s no gas in the stove even after paying bills at the month end?

While talking to Prothom Alo on Saturday Fakhrul Islam said that earlier, there used to be no gas supply from 8.00am to 4.00pm. Now, there’s uninterrupted gas supply from 12.00 to 5.00am only. But, this gas is coming to no use.