Gas supply outage hits Chattogram after digging causes line leak

Natural gas supplies to large parts of Chattogram have ground to a halt after a 24-inch thick supply line was ruptured in a canal digging operation.

Different parts of the port city including Agrabad, EPZ, Patenga, Port and Halishahar faced a gas outage from Saturday evening onwards.

The accident occurred during the Chattogram Cty Corporation’s canal digging works in the EPZ’s Akmal Ali Road, said Mohammad Sarwar Hossain, the general manager (engineering) of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL).

“During the canal digging work in the early hours of Saturday, city corporation workers dropped a piling hook which pierced the gas supply line. They informed the KGDCL after identifying the issue on Saturday morning,” said Sarwar.

“Our workers went to the site and began repair works at 4pm. Gas supply in various parts of the city has been halted since then.”

The location of the gas line nearly 20 feet below the surface has made it difficult for workers to carry out swift repairs, said Sarwar.

He added that “a major calamity” has been averted by the early identification of the problem.

“We will take initiatives to either repair or replace the pipe considering the magnitude of the accident.”