Steps must take steps to address shortage of gas supply to households, industries

Dhaka, Jan. 29 -- Residents of many areas in the capital have been facing an acute gas crisis for the last several months due to an inadequate supply of piped gas. The dearth of supply caused by reduced import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) following a hike in the price of the fossil fuel in the international spot market hit hard recently.

The government also instructed the authorities concerned to reduce gas supply to the power sector temporarily. Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited, the state-run agency in charge of LNG imports into Bangladesh, had cancelled its plan to import two shipments of 138,000 cubic metres of LNG each for delivery in November and December last year.

Though the government has been increasing the electricity and gas price regularly, the industries, business enterprises and households are facing loadshedding even in this winter and the gas pressure remains very low in many areas. Businessmen and industrialists said that their production is being hampered by low pressure of gas. Even the city residents have been complaining about low pressure of gas supply for cooking throughout the day.

Citizens are in tight grip and cannot bear the price escalation, while industries suffer most due to halt of export and import through normal channels. The development surprise showed us development without people's participation and democracy is counter- productive and brings fruits only for politicians. Amid such a situation, the concerned authorities must take steps to address this situation. Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from The New Nation. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at contentservices@htlive.com