Gas crisis has hit hard the people of Chittagong and the government’s relevant authorities have to take the sufferings caused by the ongoing crisis seriously. Day after day, people cannot go with extremely low pressure of gas in their burners.  According to a report published in this newspaper yesterday, as a whole a total of 602,074 consumers in the city is being affected due to the ongoing crisis. Industrial production around 1100 industries is being disrupted and reduced. And in the households, many people are forced to buy foods from shops as gas supply remains off for the whole day in some places.
The Independent report says that as the supply of gas from the national grid to the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Co. Ltd (KGDCL) has currently been reduced by at least 40–60 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), the present crisis has ensued. Usually, the people in the port city gets around 250–260 mmcfd of gas against the demand for around 500–550 mmcfd of gas. In the current condition, the supply has still come down to 200-230 mmcfd.
The KGDCL authorities, for meeting the shortfall, stopped supply of 32 mmcfd gas to the Raozan Gas Thermal Power Plant, but since gas supply in the national grid has fallen from Saturday, the gas crisis has become acuter.
The gas-run vehicles that ply in Chittagong are also having hard days. Long queues of vehicles at the CNG filling stations have become common sight. A person is spending three to five hours to fill his cylinders as the supply is low.
After the suspension of Sangu gas field in 2013, the sufferings of people in Chittagong actually began. The drastic fall in supply from the Semutang gas field—from 25 mmcfd to 5.6 mmcfd—has added to the crisis. As the gas line from Ashuganj to Chittagong is 24 feet wide, it cannot supply more than 220 mmcfd gas. The line should ideally be 34 feet.
On the other hand, as a new line in the national grid involves time and cost, the government has planned to set up a LNG terminal—at Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal—that can meet the country’s current gas shortfall of 500 mmcfd. It is expected that the government will start work for the LNG terminal as soon as possible. But for immediate relief, the government must now see whether it can be able to increase gas supply to the port city.