City kitchens go cold amid gas crisis

Gas supply to thousands of homes in different parts of the capital came to a complete or partial halt yesterday morning after a key valve on a distribution line burst.

The valve explosion in front of Gono Bhaban on Mirpur Road comes on the heels of a leak in a major pipeline under the Turag river last week. 

A valve is a mechanical device used to control the flow of gas through a pipeline.

The incident left large swathes of the capital -- particularly Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Shyamoli, New Market, Hazaribagh, Gabtoli, Farmgate, Kazipara and Shewrapara -- with little to no supply yesterday.

To repair the leak, several valves in the distribution network were shut, worsening pressure in Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Shyamoli, New Market, Hazaribagh and surrounding areas, said Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution, which supplied gas through pipelines in Dhaka and surrounding areas, in a press release.

With kitchens rendered near unusable, many families were forced to rely on induction stoves or restaurant food, driving up demand and costs. Long queues were seen in front of eateries across affected neighbourhoods, where customers complained of sudden price hikes.

Abu Kalam, an auto-rickshaw driver in Purba Kazipara, was seen buying lunch for his three-member family from a roadside restaurant as he had no gas supply at home.

He said food prices had risen overnight: on Friday, a plate of rice cost Tk 15, but it cost him Tk 20 yesterday. 

Aminul Islam, a manager of the restaurant, blamed the rise in price for liquefied petroleum gas for the menu getting pricier. 

Since the middle of last month, the standard 12-kg LPG cylinder has been selling for Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500, up from Tk 1,350.

The number of people buying food from his restaurant surged. “We used to cook 20kg of rice daily, but today we had to cook 30kg,” Aminul added.

Ferdousi Jahan Rose, a homemaker from Mohammadpur, said her family could not cook anything yesterday morning. “We reheated whatever food was left in the fridge with an electric oven. It wasn’t enough for the four people, but we somehow managed,” she said.

The crisis has even forced restaurants to abandon gas altogether.

One such eatery is Purobi Restaurant in Farmgate, which was forced to use firewood due to shortages in both piped gas and LPG supply, said Sultan Mahmud Hasan, a staffer at the restaurant.

The valve burst had been fixed and the damaged pipeline under the Turag repaired, said Kazi Mohammad Saidul Hasan, general manager (operations) of Titas.

But water has entered the pipelines of households in several localities including Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Lalmatia and Aminbazar as a result of the punctured pipeline under the Turag.

“However, water that entered household gas lines remains a major challenge. We have flushed water out of some lines, but it has re-entered in some cases. At this stage, it is not possible to say exactly when the problem will be fully resolved,” Hasan told The Daily Star.