Chattogram gas outage enters second day

The gas outage in Chattogram, caused by a rupture of a supply line during a canal digging operation, has entered its second day.

Gas supply to a large section of the metropolitan area and the EPZ was still off late into Sunday afternoon.

The Chattogram City Corporation’s canal digging operation in the EPZ’s Akmal Ali Road caused the accident late on Friday night. Workers dropped a piling hook onto a 24-inch thick supply line and ruptured it.

The important ‘ring line’ provides gas to various parts of Chattogram city according to Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL) officials.

Gas supply along the line was shut off on Saturday morning when the problem was noted.

Many residents of the area are facing great difficulties cooking and performing other household tasks due to the outage. Stovetops in many houses remained unlit on Sunday. Residents are cooking in clay stoves or buying food from restaurants.

KGDCL Manager (Customer and Maintenance) Anupam Dutta told bdnews24.com:

“It has taken some time for the work to speed up because the rupture is in a deep part of the canal and the water level and the amount of mud is high.”

“The gas line has to be uncovered and removed. Then the gas supply line will be restarted.”

The KGDCL official said the line supplied 30 million cubic feet of gas every day.

The damage to the pipeline has affected the supply to the Chattogram EPZ, the Karnaphuli EPZ, the 60 MW United Power private power plant and the city’s Halishahar, Patenga, Port, Agrabad, Sadarghat, Phiringi Bazar, Andarkilla, Hem Sen Lane, Jamal Khan, Chiragi Pahar and various other areas.

The Chattogram City Corporation has not commented on the outage.