Problem becomes unbearable

Gas supply in vast areas of the capital city remains unsteady since long though departments concerned give us assurance of steady supply within a very short time. And yet, gas remains as elusive today as it was yesterday, with no sign of a permanent solution. Often, we hear of announcements that gas supply will remain suspended for a certain number of hours in one part of the city or the other. The area may even include where important government establishments are located like Bangabhaban, Gono Bhaban and Jatiya Sangsad and adjacent areas.

The disruption in gas supply usually happens during the day time when housewives need to cook food for the family. It somehow appears after midnight and remains till 6am. Housewives have to wake up early in the morning and cook food as hurriedly as possible. To be candid, it becomes a race against time. Only some months back gas supply in tens of thousands of households, factories and other establishments in the capital and its adjoining areas came to a complete or partial halt, because of some technical problems that occured at the Ashulia Gas Station of the state-run Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL). 

The only solution to this nagging problem is to install gas cylinders in kitchens. And thousands of households have started to do exactly that to avoid the hassle. But to the misery of the citizens, cylinder suppliers keep increasing the price every six months or so. The cylinder that used to cost Tk. 1200 last year now costs Tk 1600, price increasing in phases. In some residential areas it has been reported that one or two gas supply companies, in order to enjoy monopoly, do not allow sale of other brands in their residential area. Even in some cases it has been reported that they are forcing the residents to buy one or two brands of cylinders that they market.

Gas is an essential commodity and it is needed during the time of cooking food. With the government supply dwindling at an alarming rate, citizens wonder what will happen if gas supply totally comes to an end. They fear that the private cylinder companies will take the advantage of the crisis and increase their price with total impunity.  The sooner the government steps in the better.