Industries across the Dhaka region are gradually resuming production as gas pressure improves after nearly two months of disruption, with factories in Gazipur, Narsingdi and Narayanganj reporting better supply following the restoration of national grid flow.
Factories, CNG stations and households have started receiving relief, although supply remains uneven in some areas. Industrialists expect the situation to return to normal within a day or two as pipeline pressure stabilises.
The crisis began after a fire on 21 July damaged the Moheshkhali LNG terminal in Cox’s Bazar, disrupting gas supply. Although the terminal was repaired, immediate recovery was delayed due to a shortage of LNG cargoes.
With fresh cargo arrivals, authorities restored national grid supply to pre-disruption levels on Tuesday. However, industry operators said pipelines need time to regain adequate pressure.
In Narsingdi, textile, dyeing, spinning and sizing mills in Chowala, Madhabdi and Shekherchar industrial areas had suffered major production losses due to low pressure.
Rashedul Hasan Rintu, president of the Narsingdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the district has 323 registered gas-dependent factories, many of which had either remained closed or operated below capacity during the shortage.
“With increased gas supply, factories that were closed or operating at limited capacity are expected to return to normal production. We are hopeful the situation will improve 100 per cent soon,” he said.
Workers also said the prolonged disruption affected both factory owners and employees dependent on production-based wages.
“We work on a production basis. Production stopped in gas-dependent factories, causing us losses. If gas supply becomes fully normal, owners and workers will all benefit,” said Md Rafi, a textile worker in Chowala.
Md Maksudur Rahman, manager of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Ltd, Narsingdi, said supply to industries, CNG stations and households had improved after increased gas flow into the national grid.
“Gas pressure in Narsingdi’s industrial areas is gradually increasing. If gas is supplied at 50 PSI within a day or two, all situations will fully normalise,” he said.
In Narayanganj, Md Saleudh Zaman Khan, managing director of denim manufacturer NZ Tex Group in Bhulta, said gas pressure remained uneven across areas and factories on Wednesday.
His factories were receiving up to 8 PSI with fluctuations, compared with almost zero pressure two weeks earlier. The company had relied on alternative fuel at higher costs during the crisis.
Khan said gas takes around 14 hours to reach the Dhaka region from Chattogram and expected further improvement after national supply returned to pre-FSRU levels.
“Pipelines were lacking sufficient gas, and engineers said it takes around 48 hours to fully restore pressure evenly with adequate supply,” he said.
He, however, sought relief from power outages, saying his factory faced a five-hour outage on Tuesday, compared with up to 11 hours during the peak of the crisis in August.
Factories in Gazipur also reported improvement.
d Rezaul Karim Jahid, chairman of 4 Z Apparels Ltd in Masterbari Road, Beraider Chala, Sreepur, said gas supply had improved since 14 September.
Md Mahashin Apu, managing director of 9 Star Apparels Ltd in Turag, said gas pressure also improved on Wednesday.
