Gas supply hits a snag in port city

Residents of Chattogram city yesterday woke up to find that there was no gas to turn the stove on to prepare the day's breakfast. 

People living in the city's Monsurabad, Bakalia, Askar Dighir Par, Mehedibagh, Nasirabad and Jamal Khan areas said the gas outage forced them to buy breakfast and lunch from food stores and restaurants.

A private job holder, Atik Shah, said he went to his office without having any breakfast, and like him, people in his neighbourhood in Bakalia suffered throughout the day without any gas supply.  

The situation remained the same till the evening, he added.

Rumana Akhter from Monsurabad area said gas supply resumed around noon, but the pressure was too low to cook. “I bought breakfast and lunch from restaurant and I'm afraid I might have to buy dinner as well for my family of four.”

Contacted, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL) managing director, Khaiz Ahmed Mazumdar, said the gas crisis was triggered by a technical glitch at a valve of the LNG terminal since Saturday night and divers have been working on to repair the valve under water at Bay of Bengal.

He, however, could not confirm when the supply of gas might be restored.

“We usually get 380 million cubic feet to 390 million cubic feet gas. We get around 320 to 330 million cubic feet of it from the LNG terminal. The remainder comes from the national grid,” he said.

The situation remained the same till filing of this report around 9:00pm last night.