Despite recent assurances from the government, gas supplies to industrial zones across Bangladesh have shown no significant improvement. As a result, more than half of the country\u2019s textile and yarn-producing mills have been completely shut down, according to industry stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prolonged gas shortage has also pushed production capacity in several other sectors, including ready-made garments, steel and paper, to below half of their normal levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On August 6, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud assured business leaders and industrial owners that the gas supply situation would improve rapidly. However, with no significant improvement reported as of yesterday, industrialists have expressed deep frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Factory owners in Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Manikganj and other industrial areas said gas supplies improved slightly in some areas last Friday, but the situation subsequently returned to its previous state. In some cases, they said, the situation has deteriorated further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, workers in Madhabdi, Narsingdi, one of the country\u2019s major textile and handloom hubs, reportedly took to the streets yesterday demanding uninterrupted supplies of gas and electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Madhabdi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kamal Hossain denied receiving any information about such a protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shawkat Aziz Russell, president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said more than 900 of the association\u2019s over 1,800 member textile mills are currently completely shut down due to the gas crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the crisis was not limited to textile mills. Gas-dependent industries such as steel, paper, particle board and ceramics are also facing severe disruptions to production because of the prolonged shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said gas supplies in Narayanganj had improved slightly for one day but deteriorated again the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The managing director of a leading spinning mill in Araihazar, Narayanganj, speaking on condition of anonymity, said gas pressure at his factory had fallen to almost zero, far below the 15 PSI promised by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He claimed that the factory was suffering financial losses of around Tk 20 million every day. He also expressed concern that he might have to sell personal property to pay workers\u2019 salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further warned that prolonged gas shortages could make it difficult for most factory owners to pay gas and electricity bills for July and August, as well as workers\u2019 wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minhaz Haque, managing director of Fatullah Dyeing and Calendaring Limited, said the government had provided assurances several times before, but several deadlines had already passed without any lasting improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have no clear idea when the situation will return to normal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abdullah Al Mamun, former president of the Narsingdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said workers at Narsingdi\u2019s textile mills had lost their income because factories remained closed. He said they took to the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway demanding uninterrupted gas and electricity supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Madhabdi Police Station OC Kamal Hossain denied any information about such a protest. Attempts to contact Shibpur Police Station OC Md Kohinur Mia for comment were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country\u2019s gas crisis intensified after gas supplies to the national grid suddenly fell on July 21 following a fire and technical problems at Excelerate Energy\u2019s floating LNG terminal in Maheshkhali. The country has been experiencing severe gas shortages since then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite recent assurances from the government, gas supplies to industrial zones across Bangladesh have shown no significant improvement. As a result, more than half of the country\u2019s textile and yarn-producing mills have been completely shut down, according to industry stakeholders. The prolonged gas shortage has also pushed production capacity in several other sectors, including ready-made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2351,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2349\/revisions\/2351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.thenationix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}