Gas Supply Crisis Paralyzes Transport and Households Across Chittagong
Photo Collected
A severe natural gas crisis in Chittagong has cascaded from industrial sectors into daily life, disrupting domestic routines and pushing transportation costs higher as residents and commercial drivers grapple with critical shortages.
The impact is most visible on city streets, where compressed natural gas (CNG) auto-rickshaw drivers are spending hours in queues to refuel. With many filling stations facing low pressure or total outages, drivers report significant loss of income, forcing some to pass the burden to passengers. Commuters have reported paying up to 30 taka above the standard fare, as drivers struggle to cover daily vehicle rental fees and operating costs amidst the downtime.
Domestic users are facing equal hardship, with thousands of households across more than 50 areas—including Agrabad, Halishahar, and Bakalia—reporting a complete absence of gas for cooking. Residents in affected neighborhoods have been forced to rely on store-bought meals, with many reporting that supply has been erratic for a week before disappearing entirely.
According to data from the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company (KGDC), the city is currently receiving only 210 million cubic feet of gas per day against a total demand of 350 million cubic feet. Company officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that the shortfall is a result of national allocation adjustments made by Petrobangla, which has diverted supplies to address critical shortages in the capital. To manage the ongoing deficit, KGDC has imposed supply curbs on large-scale industrial consumers, power plants, and fertilizer factories.
The regional shortage stems from a wider failure within the national infrastructure. Two floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Moheshkhali, which typically contribute over a billion cubic feet of gas to the national grid daily, have been crippled since a fire broke out at the Excelerate Energy terminal on July 21. The incident halved the terminals’ output, causing gas pressure to drop sharply across eastern Bangladesh, affecting districts including Comilla, Noakhali, and Feni in addition to Chittagong and Dhaka.
Petrobangla Chairman Md. Abdul Mannan stated that repair efforts are underway with international experts and domestic engineers working to restore the damaged infrastructure. While the company aims to resume partial supply from the terminal within the next few days, officials warn that a full return to normal operations will take significantly longer.
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