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Daily life of the city dwellers is severely disrupted in many areas in recent days because of sudden fall in pressure of piped gas supplied to the households.
The disruption of the key necessity is not only hampering regular activities, like cooking meals, but also enhancing living cost of the residents, as they have to make various alternative arrangements to cope with the problem.
In many areas, the situation is too critical, and the residents cannot even light up their gas-fired ovens throughout the day. It is severely affecting people, especially the children and the aged ones.
At the same time, restaurants and hotels are also found dropping items from their menu because of the fall in gas pressure, thus incurring loss of business.
Low-pressure of gas was reported in many areas across the capital including a part of Mirpur, Shewrapara, Kazipara, a part of Mohammadpur, Lalmatia, Razabazar, Indira Road, Eskaton, Basabo, Rampura, Badda, Gendaria, Kajla, Jatrabari and Gopibag.
The officials concerned also admitted the disruption in gas supply, saying that lower-than-expected supply of the fossil fuel coupled with its higher demand amid the cold weather is causing the situation.
But the aggrieved city dwellers came down heavily on the gus distribution companies. They alleged that low-pressure of gas is a common scenario in the capital during winter, but the authorities did not pay any heed to the persisting problem.
Haron-ur-Rashid, an employee of a private business entity, who lives at Gopibag's R K Mission Road, said he has to wake up very early in the morning to avert problems.
"I have to heat up water for my child and make breakfast for my family members due to sickness of my wife. Not only that, a few days back my elder brother with his family wanted to come to my apartment. But I requested them not to come right now," he added.
Asma Ibrahim, a housewife at New Eskaton, told the FE that the gas supply from the line normally stops at 7:00 am and resumes at 6:30 pm, but the pressure remains too low to use.
"So, I have to wait until 9:00 pm everyday to get minimum pressure for cooking. In the persisting cold weather, we need warm water for my children and father-in-law for taking bath and other uses," she further said.
A student of Dhaka College, Ismail Ahmed, said he went to a restaurant at Shahbag for breakfast, but the restaurant boy refused to make egg omelette because of unavailability of gas.
"I don't know why the gas distributing and supplying agency does not replace the decade-old pipelines and take precautionary measures during the cold weather for ensuring smooth supply of gas," he also said.
The country's demand for natural gas is more than 3,700 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), while the state-owned Petrobangla can supply less than 2,700 mmcfd, according to the officials.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official at Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company said they can supply 1,600-1,700 mmcfd of gas against a demand for over 2,000 mmcfd.
But the recent cold-wave has worsened the situation following rise in demand for natural gas for heating up water as well as condensate problem in the gas transmission and distribution lines, he also said.
"We hope the situation will improve once the cold-wave is over," he added.