No gas supply to industries for four hours daily

Gas supply to industries will remain suspended for four hours from 5:00pm to 9:00pm every day for 15 days from Tuesday.

State-owned Petrobangla issued this directive on Monday, saying that all industries are requested to abide by the order on the occasion of Holy Ramadan.

Regretting the temporary inconvenience, the Petrobangla said that the vigilance teams of the gas distribution companies will monitor the issue.

Earlier, the Petrobangla had instructed all the CNG refuelling stations to keep those closed for six hours from 5:00pm to 11:00pm every day during the Ramadan to facilitate gas supply to household consumers and power plants.

Such directives came against the backdrop of the nagging gas crisis as consumers in many areas have been complaining that they are not getting the gas supply during Ramadan for their cooking.

In the meantime, the gas supply experienced a drastic fall on April 3, the very first day of Ramadan following a technical fault at the Bibiyana gas field, the largest gas field in the country.

After five days, the fault was repaired and Bibiyana resumed full production on April 7, but still, consumers in many areas in and outside the capital Dhaka are complaining that they are suffering from the gas crisis.

The situation forced Petrobangla to issue the fresh order to keep the gas supply suspended for four hours daily to the industries for the next 15 days.

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, vice-president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told The Business Post that there will be some problems, especially in the dyeing section. The fabric may be damaged or the production will be reduced by 30 to 40 per cent.

“As we have no option, we will accept the temporary loss.”