Bangladesh gas shortage deepens, power cuts reach 12 hours, malls ordered to close by 8 pm

The Story in Brief

Bangladesh has ordered shopping malls and shops to close by 8 pm, an hour earlier than before, as the country's worst gas shortage in months triggers power cuts of up to 12 hours. Total gas supply has fallen to around 2,100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) against demand of 3,800 mmcfd, The Times of India reports, citing officials. Domestic fields supply 1,630 mmcfd, while two floating LNG terminals, one hit by a July 21 fire and another hit by rough weather, together provide just 410 mmcfd, the lowest since the accident.

The power shortfall averaged 2,745 MW per hour at 8 pm on some days, with rural areas bearing the brunt of 17-20 hour outages, The Hindu reports. Load-shedding peaked at 3,592 MW on August 11. Public anger has turned violent: electricity offices in Gopalganj and Rangpur have been attacked, and CNG auto-rickshaw drivers blockaded the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The opposition Jamaat-e-Islami has accused the BNP government of failure to act. Officials warn the crisis could last at least another week.