Where will people go amid gas crisis?

For the past 15 days, most households in the capital have been cooking on electric stoves. Those who cannot afford electric stoves are either using clay stoves or buying food from outside. The severe gas shortage being experienced in the capital is unprecedented. This gas crisis is not limited to the capital; other districts like Comilla, Gazipur, and Narayanganj are also facing significant gas shortages, increasing people's suffering. In many areas, gas is unavailable during the day, and people have to wait until night to light their cooking stoves. Industrial customers are also not receiving the required gas, causing production in export-oriented factories to be disrupted. Many factories are closing due to the lack of gas, and new investments are deterred. As days pass, the outcry and suffering over the gas crisis are growing.

A news report published on Monday (January 13) revealed that there is no good news ahead, and the gas crisis is expected to worsen. Typically, during the winter, electricity production drops by half, reducing the demand for gas in the power sector. This would normally increase gas supply to the industrial, residential, and commercial sectors. However, this time, gas supply has decreased. Domestic gas production has been consistently declining, and as a result, even in winter, consumers are suffering from gas shortages. Experts fear that this will cause even more difficulties in the future.

Currently, the daily demand for gas is 380 crore cubic feet. The situation can be managed if the maximum supply is 300 crore cubic feet per day, but currently only 250 crore cubic feet is being supplied. At one point, the country produced 270 crore cubic feet of gas per day. Since 2018, production has been declining. To fill the gap, the previous Awami League government leaned towards importing LNG. However, there was less emphasis on new gas exploration and increasing production. As a result, production has dropped to 193 crore cubic feet, compared to 200-210 crore cubic feet last year. Experts say that the neglect and incompetence of the energy sector is to blame. Despite having maximum reserves, production at the Titas and Kailashtilla fields has not increased due to a lack of technical planning and efficient technology. Meanwhile, production has been increased several times over at the Bibiyana gas field, despite lower reserves.

We are aware of the issues, but we don't know the solution. Will Bangladesh ever be free from the gas crisis? If not, what will happen? People still need to cook at home. Not everyone can afford to buy electric stoves. Additionally, the electricity bills for electric stoves are skyrocketing, and not everyone can bear this cost. In Dhaka’s high-rise buildings, it is not always possible to cook using clay stoves. Buying three meals a day from outside is also not feasible. So, where will the people of Dhaka go?

There are no opportunities to discover gas in the sea in the coming years. There is little progress in discovering new gas fields onshore. The work of increasing production by drilling new wells in old gas fields is moving slowly. While there were plans to drill 50 wells by 2025, only 16 have been drilled in the past three years. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has informed the media that the gas crisis cannot be solved quickly. Production is declining, LNG import capacity is limited, and LNG prices are rising. There is no solution other than increasing domestic production. Therefore, it is necessary to move forward with exploration and production, focusing on short, medium, and long-term plans.

This clearly indicates that the government will not be able to resolve the gas crisis anytime soon. So, what will the people do? Where will the large number of people living in Dhaka city or its surrounding areas go? Who will provide the answer to this? The government must provide an answer to how the affected people will cope with the disaster that the gas crisis will bring in the coming days.