Titas stops feeding CNG filling stations for 24 hours from Tuesday midnight

Titas will stop supplying gas to CNG filling stations across Bangladesh for 24 hours from Tuesday midnight due to maintenance work at Bibiyana field.

The state-run gas transmission and distribution company has chosen the time for the overhaul because the demand has dropped as factories remain closed during Eid holidays, its official Mohammad Wahiduzzaman told bdnews24.com on Tuesday night. 

He said state-owned energy company Petrobangla informed Titas Gas about the move in a letter.

Titas supplies gas to 60 percent of the CNG refuelling stations in Bangladesh.

The Titas official also said household users will get gas on a 'limited scale' during this 24-hour period.

Tuesday was the last Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. Those returning to Dhaka from home after celebrating the Eid with their families may face problems due to the supply disruption Wednesday.

Maintenance work at the Bibiyana gas field forced supply to stop for 24 hours from midnight on the Eid day in 2015.

Drivers had to wait in long queues at the filling stations that night. The people also suffered the following day due to lack of CNG auto-rickshaws.

CNG Filling Station Owners' Association General Secretary Farhan Noor thinks the people returning to Dhaka would suffer this time also due to the halt in supply.

"This decision contradicts the previous one on keeping the stations open round the clock for 10 days during the Eid for smooth journeys," he told bdnews24.com

He said many were already crowding the filling stations on hearing the news.

"It would be better if the maintenance work was done after the Eid rush," he added.