Despite the power, energy and mineral resources ministry’s deadlines for Titas and other gas distribution companies to remove illegal piped natural gas connections, execution is still absent. Experts say that the illegal gas transmission lines have been made without regard to the quality of materials, and entail security risks that tantamount to death traps from horrific accidents. Besides, the government is also not getting revenue from them.
Recently, illegal gas connections via plastic pipes helped last Friday night’s fire spread faster, razing almost the entire slum at Mirpur’s Chalantika, Fire Service and Civil Defence officials said. It is alleged that illegal gas is being used in almost all the areas through contracts with Titas officials. In some areas, Titas employees are collecting gas bills through brokers.
In some cases, after being disconnected, lines are being reconnected. Because Titas does not have regular inspection arrangements, illegal users get the opportunity. The Energy Division had instructed the gas distribution companies to announce that there is no illegal gas connection before starting costly LNG supply. But Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution Company Limited could not make the announcement even though the LNG supply has already started.
However, the government is planning to import another 1000mmcfd of LNG in 2021.According to an order from Energy and Mineral Resources Division on February 8, 2018 it was said that the deadline must be set to stop illegal gas connections by March 01, 2018. Titas Gas will announce that there is no connection before import of LNG. But Titas has not made the announcement till now.
Later, the energy ministry set a deadline until June 2019 for Titas Gas, and until February for other gas marketing and distribution companies to remove illegal piped natural gas connections across the country.The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), in a recent directive to the gas marketing and distribution companies, has also stated that the top officials of these state-run companies will be made liable, if any illegal gas connection is found after the respective deadline.
Titas Gas is the country's largest gas marketing and distribution company that has started supplying gas to consumers since April, 1968. It has a total of 13,078 kilometres (km) of gas pipeline in its jurisdiction covering Dhaka and Mymensingh areas.Titas Managing Director (Add. Charge) Md. Mostafa Kamal told Bangladesh Post “We are removing illegal gas lines. Our team is working to do this continuously. Hope we can remove illegal gas lines in a very short time.”
Using illegal gas connections has been rampant across the country over the years. The state-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) has alone spotted around 1.0 million illegal gas connections recently.
