Factories in Savar, Manikganj suffer for low gas pressure
The gas distribution has fallen due to a drop in LNG import to the country
Low pressure of gas has been interrupting production at the garment factories in Savar, Ashulia and Manikganj areas for the last few days, causing a loss for the factory owners.
After a 22.8% hike in gas price, such interruption has been causing severe damage to the country's top foreign currency earning sector, said the industry insiders.
Sources at the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited said the gas distribution has fallen as LNG import to the country has dropped.
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At the beginning of this week, LNG supply to the national grid was around 830 mmcf (million cubic feet) which dropped to 781 mmcf on Sunday, while the total gas supply fell from above 3,100 mmcf per day to 3,090 mmcf.
At the same time, production from Bibiana field – the country's biggest supplier of gas – has also dropped.
Khorshed Alam, chairman of Little Star Spinning in Savar, told The Business Standard that gas pressure in several areas of Savar, including Jamgarh and Ashulia, had dropped sharply since Sunday night.
He said the approved pressure of gas in his factory is 10 psi (pound per square inch), but by noon on Monday, the pressure dropped to 2 psi. Due to this, almost all the units of his factory have been shut down.
"After the gas connection in Narayanganj was fixed, the gas pressure at factories from Dhamrai to Manikganj has dropped drastically. Production at my factory is almost closed," Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, managing director at Rising Group, told TBS.
He said about 200 factories in the area were suffering from the gas crisis.
Earlier, factories in the entire Narayanganj area did not get gas supply for more than a week due to a problem in a gas line of Titas. That problem was solved only a couple of days back.
There is a gas crisis from the Mymensingh Road to Gazipur area, said Fazlul Hoque, managing director at Israq Textile Mills Limited and vice president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
Md Salim Miah, director (operation) at Titas Gas and Transmission Company Limited, said recently they have been getting a lower supply of gas from the Gas Transmission Company Limited.
"Industries suffer due to a low pressure of gas as LNG supply to the national grid has dropped. However, we are working with Petrobangla to improve the situation," he said.
