Severe gas shortage leaves Dhaka residents in acute hardship

Following a prolonged shortage of LPG nationwide, a severe scarcity of pipeline gas has also hit the capital, causing widespread hardship for residents.

In many households, cooking has become impossible as gas supplies to stoves have dried up. Families are being forced to switch to LPG cylinders, firewood or electric stoves, driving up costs and adding to daily inconvenience—particularly for middle-class households.

These scenes were observed while visiting various areas of the capital on Thursday (January 8).

Nigar Sultana, 40, a resident of Mirpur, said that when gas is available early in the morning, her family can complete cooking for the entire day. However, for the past three days there has been no gas from morning until noon, forcing them to buy breakfast from hotels.

A similar situation has persisted in Mohammadpur. A resident of Japan Garden City said that breakfast at home was limited to biscuits because there was no gas, while bread was also unavailable in nearby shops. Long queues were seen at hotels selling roti and paratha.

The resident, who works as a school teacher, added that cooking for children at the school day-care has been suspended for the past two days due to the gas shortage, forcing the school to purchase food from hotels.

He further said that arranging meals for elderly and young family members has become the most difficult amid the gas shortage. At the same time, prices of induction stoves and rice cookers have risen, forcing many people to buy these items at higher costs.

When asked about the gas shortage, Engineer Kazi Mohammad Saidul Hasan, General Manager of the Operations Division at Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, said a leak had been detected in the pipeline coming from Aminbazar under the Buriganga River. As a safety measure, gas pressure has been reduced in several areas, including Mohammadpur.

He added that for the past three days, the Coast Guard, Fire Service, and a team of divers have been working together on the repairs. A leak clamp was installed on Wednesday, but the work is not yet complete. A specially sized new clamp needs to be manufactured before repairs can resume. For now, the leakage has been partially controlled, and gas pressure will be gradually increased.

At present, a severe gas shortage is affecting many areas, including Kafrul, Mohammadpur, Shewrapara, Mirpur, Uttara, Badda, Rampura, Basabo, Nayatola in Mogbazar, Sutrapur in Old Dhaka, Ray Saheb Bazar, and Lakshmibazar. Gas pressure is so low in many homes that stoves fail to ignite, and even where gas is briefly available at dawn or late at night, normal cooking remains impossible.

A resident of Sutrapur in Old Dhaka said that for the past month, there has been no gas from morning until noon, and over the past three days, there has been no supply at all. This morning, he had to leave for work without breakfast, while food at hotels was also scarce due to long queues.

Engineer Saidul Hasan stated that most complaints have come from Mohammadpur, where gas supply was reduced due to a transmission line leak. Gas pressure is now being gradually restored, and the situation is expected to improve within two to three days.

He also noted that illegal connections in some areas are preventing legitimate consumers from receiving adequate gas. Efforts are underway to disconnect these unauthorized connections, but Titas faces challenges in managing the issue alone.

Meanwhile, as pipeline gas shortages intensify, dependence on LPG has increased. However, consumers report that LPG cylinders are often unavailable at the prices set by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission.