Gas outage in Chattogram enters third day

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

Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL) officials were unable to provide a clear timeline for the completion of the repairs.

A large section of the metropolitan area and the EPZ were left without natural gas supply since Saturday evening.

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

“Works are under way to clear the pipe line. This is a technical work so it will take some time to complete,” said Khayej Ahmed Mazumder, the managing director of KGDLC.

 “We can’t say when the repair work will be completed. It may take all night or even until the morning.”

KGDCL Manager (Customer and Maintenance) Anupam Dutta said: “The pipe line has been opened.  A two-inch hole was knocked into the gas pipe during the digging work by city corporation workers.”

“We are working on repairing it but can’t say how long the work will last.” 

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.