The household gas pipelines are apparently drying out fast during the winter months with many Dhaka residents complaining it is burning a hole in their pockets since they are forced to make alternative arrangements to cook meals.
The authorities say a higher-than-usual demand is the reason behind such problem, though the consumers' rights groups suggested the situation only points to the mismanagement of the suppliers.
In some city areas, residents are suffering from the gas crisis for months while in some other areas, the trouble began with the increase of winter intensity.
Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution, however, says residents were putting their burners on longer than usual during winter, which has spiked the demand and created the crisis.
The daily supply is 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas against a demand of 2 billion cubic feet, according to the utility.
Farmgate, Shaymoli, Adabar, Mirpur, Science Laboratory, Segun Bagicha, Jatrabarhi, Sutrapur, Gandaria and Lalbagh are among the areas facing such gas crisis.
Most of the people who were contacted over this report said they had been suffering from the gas crunch for quite some time now.
Tripti Islam of Farmgate has had no gas in her kitchen from 8am to 4pm. "The supply comes in the afternoon but runs out again for two to three hours from 6pm."
For Segun Bagicha resident Shirin Rahman, it means they have had to readjust their daily routine to gas supply schedule.
"For the past one week or so, our burners dry out before 8am and later we get some gas after 2pm. As a result, we need to start cooking very early in the morning - immediately after the Fazr prayers."
Adabar resident Shamima Parveen is also having a tough time to put together meals.
"The gas pressure starts to subside at 8am. After 3pm we get the pressure back. It was not like this before - just for the last one week we have been facing this."
Residents of other areas are also in a spot of bother.
A few residents of Gendaria in the old part of the city said there had been low gas pressure for over a year but the situation has worsened since the beginning of January, reports bdnews24.
School teacher Sharmin Ali, who lives at a house in Gendaria DIT plot, said she has started using gas cylinder because of the intermittent supply in the pipeline.
"I used to pay Tk 800 gas bill a month but now I spend between Tk 1200 and Tk 1300. The electricity bill has also gone up as well as we are using electric kettle and rice cooker for warm water and cooking rice, respectively," she added.
Mirpur resident Sahana Kader said she had been using induction oven to cook food for the last few weeks when the crisis became acute.
Anjuman Mortoza's reaction was similar.
"We have to starve if we want to prepare our meals on gas burners. There is a Tk 2,000 extra expenditure in the family because of the gas crisis. It's difficult to survive this way."
HM Ali Ashraf, director (operations) at the state-run Titas, has blamed the crisis on the rise in household demand during winter.
“Our supply hasn’t been cut. But the use has risen. That’s why some areas are getting slightly less gas. The problem will go away when the winter is over,” he said.
According to Ashraf, consumption of gas in households has risen by 20 per cent during winter, raising the gap between the demand and supply.
Ruhin Hossain Prince, a secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), thinks mismanagement at Titas is the reason.
“The overall mismanagement of gas has created the situation. We pointed out the problems with Titas on different occasions but there has been no redress,” he said.
He also thinks the situation in winter is a result of lack of planning by Titas.