A prolonged gas crisis in the capital and in various parts of the country has brought severe hardship to kitchens. With the stove failing to light day after day, thousands of families are turning to electric cookers as an alternative. As a result, sales of electric and induction cookers have risen several times over in a short space of time.
Sellers say many people are buying electric cookers in advance as a permanent alternative, given the uncertainty over gas.
Conversations with several traders indicate that sales of electric and induction cookers have risen significantly over the past week. Buyers are particularly numerous from areas where gas pressure is low for most of the day or where gas is not available at all. Many are buying an electric cooker alongside their gas cooker so that cooking is not disrupted when there is no gas.
A seller in Banasree, Sohel, said that where four or five electric cookers used to be sold in a day, now between 15 and 20 are being sold. Demand is highest for electric and induction cookers priced between 1,800 and 4,000 taka. But better-quality branded cookers priced between 5,000 and 20,000 taka are also selling. Many buyers are choosing comparatively better-quality products with long-term use and electricity savings in mind.
Akhi Akter, a homemaker from Badda in the capital who had come to buy a cooker, said: “I live in the Anandanagar area. We have had a severe gas problem in our area for several years. We often face difficulty cooking. So I have come to buy an induction cooker according to my family’s need and means. I have chosen one and will go home with it.”
Aminul Islam, who had come to buy an electric cooker at another showroom in Rampura, said: “Cooking on an electric cooker when you need to is far more convenient than waiting hour after hour for gas. Even if the electricity bill rises somewhat, it is an effective solution for keeping the family’s normal cooking going.”
Those connected with the market say demand for electric and induction cookers may keep rising for as long as the gas crisis lasts. At the same time the use of alternative technology for cooking is gradually becoming more popular. Many companies are bringing electric cookers to the market, and sales are good.
Enquiries indicate that because of the continuing gas crisis many people are now using electric cookers to do their cooking. Gas adequate for cooking is not available at any time of day — morning, noon or evening.
Mousumi Akter, a resident of Uttara, said the stove will not light for want of gas. Having found no other way, she has bought an electric cooker, and the family is now cooking on it.
She said: “An electric cooker is all right for a small family. But what will those with large families, who have to cook a lot, do?” She expressed anger at the severe gas crisis and demanded a swift solution.
Titas Gas has apologised to customers over the gas crisis continuing across the country. In a press release on Saturday, 25 July, the Titas Gas authorities said that because the supply of regasified LNG (RLNG) from the LNG terminals at Maheshkhali had fallen by about 450 mmcfd due to a technical fault, severe low pressure would prevail at the end of all classes of customers in areas under Titas Gas until the situation improved.
Earlier the same day Petrobangla also apologised over the continuing gas crisis. The agency said domestic and foreign technical teams were working tirelessly to repair the technical fault in Excelerate Energy’s FSRU (floating LNG terminal). It expressed the hope that the repair work would be completed as soon as possible and gas supply normalised.
Petrobangla added that the situation would improve as soon as the repair of the FSRU’s technical fault was completed. Any further progress would be announced later, it said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report