Daily life in Bashundhara Residential Area was severely disrupted as residents endured an almost uninterrupted gas crisis from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning, despite a brief restoration of supply around midnight.
Residents said gas supply from the Titas Gas pipeline was completely cut off throughout Wednesday and did not resume until shortly after midnight, well beyond normal cooking hours.
The short-lived supply offered little relief, as gas was again unavailable from Thursday morning, extending the disruption into a second consecutive day.
Daylong outage, brief midnight supply
Residents across multiple blocks reported that there was no gas throughout Wednesday, paralysing cooking and other essential household activities. At around 11:00pm, when this report was filed, the outage was still ongoing.
Although gas briefly returned after midnight, residents said the timing rendered it largely unusable, as most households had already gone to bed.
By morning, the supply had disappeared again, raising concerns that the problem is becoming a daily pattern rather than a one-off disruption.
Essential needs affected
In Dhaka, piped gas is crucial not only for cooking but also for boiling drinking water—a common safety practice due to concerns over water quality.
Unlike rural areas that rely on tubewells, most city residents depend on WASA-supplied water drawn from rivers such as the Shitalakhya, which are widely known to be affected by industrial pollution.
With gas unavailable for most of the day and night, residents said ensuring safe drinking water became particularly difficult, especially for families with children and elderly members.
LPG shortage worsens situation
The gas outage has been compounded by an ongoing shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Although many households keep LPG cylinders as a backup due to long-standing irregularities in Titas supply, residents said availability has declined sharply across Dhaka and other parts of the country over the past month.
The shortage has affected households as well as hotels and restaurants nationwide. Consumers allege syndication and market manipulation have restricted supply and driven up prices, leaving families with few affordable alternatives.
Residents speak of repeated hardship
Rebeka Begum, a resident of Bashundhara Residential Area, said the situation has become unbearable.
“There was no gas from morning until late at night. Gas came after midnight, when everyone was asleep. And again, there is no gas this morning,” she said.
She added that she was unable to boil drinking water for her children and had run out of LPG at the worst possible time. “We pay gas bills every month, but when we actually need gas, it’s not there,” she said.
Md Hasan, a security guard in G-Block, said gas pressure remains extremely low even on days when supply is available. “Still, the bill is fixed and must be paid regularly,” he said.
A wider citywide pattern
The disruption is not limited to Bashundhara. Md Kabul, a resident of Mirpur-10 near Shah Ali Market, described gas supply in his area as erratic and exhausting.
“Gas goes in the morning, comes back briefly, disappears again in the evening, and sometimes returns late at night. You can’t plan anything,” he said.
Paying without service
Monir Hossain, a teacher at an English-medium school in Dhaka, noted that under regulations introduced in June 2022, non-metered residential users must pay fixed monthly gas bills regardless of supply.
The current charges are Tk1,080 for double-burner stoves and Tk990 for single-burner stoves.
“People are forced to pay even when there is no gas, while LPG prices are also rising. Consumers are trapped,” he said.
Growing anxiety over urban living
Md Kibria, a flat owner in Shewrapara under Mirpur-10, said the recurring gas crisis is making city life increasingly difficult.
“I struggle to provide meals for my two school-going daughters. If this situation continues, living in Dhaka will become impossible for middle-class families,” he said.
As gas supply remains erratic and LPG shortages persist, residents are expressing growing frustration over rising costs, unreliable services, and a lack of accountability.
Many are calling for urgent and transparent action to prevent further deterioration of living conditions in the capital.