The gas crisis in the capital aggravated further Wednesday as one of the two operational FSRUs (floating storage and regasification units) went in maintenance resulting in short supply of the fuel coupled with supply constraints.
State-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL) could not repair the leaked pipeline until Wednesday while writing this report at 8.30 pm as it was a challenging task to carry out work in the pipeline covered with sands and water, said a senior TGTDCL official.
The official, however, said gas supply is flowing in the city through a parallel pipeline from Aminbazar area in the city where the pipeline was leaked and damaged during road work being carried out by the state-owned Road Transport and Highways Division there.
He admitted that despite the flow through the parallel pipeline, the gas pressure remains low.
Gas-guzzling industries, household consumers and CNG (compressed natural gas) filling stations are suffering the pinch of the crisis.
Mohammadpur, Dhan-modi, Hazaribagh, Mirpur, Shyamoli, Green Road and other nearby areas in the city are the worst affected due to gas shortage, said the Titas official.
Other areas in the city are also suffering.
Many city residents had to throng city restaurants to purchase food. Many cooked using infrared or kerosene stoves. The TGTDCL has said that the crisis will be resolved once the pipeline leakage is repaired.
Due to the maintenance of floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) of Summit, gas supply from its LNG terminal dropped to around 570 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) on Wednesday, compared to around 850 mmcfd a couple of weeks back.
The country's overall natural gas supply is now around 3,040 mmcfd, which was over 3,100 mmcfd earlier, according to the Petrobangla data.
