Why are so many gas pipeline leakages reported suddenly?

When residents of different parts of Dhaka city became worried over the smell of gas leaking from pipelines on Monday, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company advised people not to panic in a notice.

Yesterday, Titas Gas officials told TBS that the smell of gas was more prevalent than usual because the pressure of gas in the domestic lines increased as supply fell in lines connected to industries and power plants dropped during holidays.

The situation has been brought under control by reducing gas pressure in the pipeline from District Regulating Stations (DRS), from where gas enters into Dhaka, Md Haronur Rashid Mullah, managing director of Titas Gas, told TBS.

However, the data of daily gas production of Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla), shows a different picture.

On 20 April, the total gas production was 2,842 million cubic feet (mmcf) which dropped to 2,124mmcf on Monday, when people reported leakages.

That means increase in pressure did not cause the increase in reports of gas leakages. Rather, mixing odorants – chemicals used to make gas leakage more noticeable – gave rise to the situation, Md Maqbul-e-Elahi Chowdhury, a recently retired member of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).

He said incidents of gas leakage have been there for years but it could not be identified because it was odourless. 

Md Maqbul-e-Elahi Chowdhury, also a former managing director of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited, praised Titas Gas for adding odorant to gas at required level which has helped the consumers to sense the leakages at their premises.

"Instead of reducing the gas pressure to suppress the smell, Titas Gas should continue adding odorant at this level as long as all leakages are repaired," Md Maqbul-e-Elahi Chowdhury added.

Sources at Titas Gas told TBS that gas odorants were not used for years, but, following recent fires in different areas of Dhaka city, Titas Gas has started using odorants in gas as a precaution.

Md Salim Miah, director (operation) of Titas Gas, however, said they have been using odorants on a regular basis, but he could not provide the data of how much odorant they use for each 100mmcf gas.

He also did not disclose how many leakages they have detected and fixed after the smell of gas spread in Rampura, Badda, Banasri and Bailey Road areas on Monday night.

Former managing director of Titas Gas Md Abdul Aziz Khan said it is Titas Gas's foremost duty to repair and replace these leakages on a priority basis.

"After that, they should take steps to replace all old distribution lines as soon as possible," said Md Abdul Aziz Khan.

About reducing gas pressure in pipelines to control the smell, he said those leakages might not appear as threatening once all consumers start using gas. It might not be risky as long as gas does not get accumulated in a single place.

Titas gas has around 12,706 km of distribution lines in Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions, a significant portion of which is very old.

In 2017, Titas Gas took an initiative to replace such risky pipelines within three years, but that has not been implemented even after five years.

As of now, a draft project plan (DPP) has been sent to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the power, energy and mineral resources ministry, said Razib Kumar Saha, general manager (Planning and Development), of Titas Gas.