CNG filling stations in Dhaka have stopped feeding cars for 24 hours from the wee hours of Saturday in line with a government announcement. The government attributed ‘emergency maintenance’ at Bibiyana gas field to the suspension.
Long queues of vehicles were seen in the refuelling stations before Friday midnight.
Most of the stations halted supply before schedule, but some of them said they would continue servicing them until the queues ended.
Driver ‘Julhas’ said at Sonar Bangla Filling Station told moments before midnight that he had gone to another station at Indira Road but they had already stopped service.
“So I’ve come here. Now I’ll go to Kishoreganj after refuelling,” he said.
Long queues snaked out onto the streets in two CNG stations at Rampura and another at Mugdaparha before midnight.
Binoy Majumder, manager of Shanta CNG Refuelling Station at Mugdaparha, said, “We were told that the gas supply would be cut. But we’ll continue service until 12:30am. Those who come by this time will get gas.”
Kalyanpur’s Era Filling and Service Station also served gas after midnight.
The supervisor of the station said they were trying to serve those who were still waiting.
The government had decided to keep all the refilling stations open for 24 hours for seven days starting three days prior to Eid.
Generally, refilling stations remain closed from 5pm to 9pm.
However, to ensure hassle-free journey of Eid holidaymakers, refilling stations every year are allowed to operate round the clock for a few days.
There are 570 CNG-refuelling stations across Bangladesh. These stations consume only five percent of the total supply.
Chevron-run Bibiyana is the largest gas-field in the country. Around 45 percent of the total gas comes from this field.
– bdnews24.com