With gas supply not yet normal in the capital, long queues of vehicles have not eased at CNG filling stations. With inadequate pressure and gas not available at set times, drivers of CNG auto-rickshaws, buses and private cars are having to stand in line for hours, day and night. This long-running ordeal has created serious pressure on city life.
Inquiries found the gas crisis continuing at filling stations in the capital’s Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Kalyanpur, Shyamoli and Gabtali areas. When gas comes now and then, the stations serve vehicles; when it stops, drivers have to sit and wait. Gas that came last night lasted until about morning, but after morning many stations had no gas.
The gas crisis has been running for several weeks. Drivers arrive in the gas queue before dawn, and it often drags on until noon or afternoon. Drivers complain that pressure at the stations is so low that filling one vehicle takes more than twice the normal time, so most of the day is spent in the queue — causing a big drop in their daily earnings.
Tarek, a salesperson at the Tejgaon Akij CNG pump, said: “Gas supply comes at about 9:30pm, and we start serving then. But from dawn there is no more gas in the line.”
With buses and CNG auto-rickshaws stuck for hours at filling stations, a shortage of public transport has appeared on the roads. Ordinary people commuting on office days and going out for urgent needs are facing acute suffering. Many, unable to find transport after a long wait, are trying to reach their destinations on foot or by alternative means at extra fares.
Filling-station authorities say they cannot serve customers quickly because they are not getting adequate gas from the national grid as needed and there is low pressure in the line. Running a pump’s compressor without pressure becomes risky, so they cannot serve even half the number of vehicles they could in normal times.
The impact of the energy crisis is hitting ordinary people’s daily lives and pockets directly. Both drivers and owners have strongly demanded that the authorities quickly ensure adequate gas supply at proper pressure to CNG stations.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report