Gas crisis haunts Gazipur garment factories aswell
An severe gas crisis has continued to severely effects production in textile and garment factories not merely in Narayanganj and Narsingdi but as well in the country's major commercial belt of Gazipur and Maona.
Factory owners in the latter several said they have already been losing creation and incurring financial losses for over half a year.
Yesterday the gas pressure was so low in some spots that production have been put on hold. In spots where in fact the pressure was a little bit high, factories could not run in full swing.
Practically 500 textile, spinning, dyeing, finishing and weaving mills have already been impacted in the professional belts of Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Madhabdi, Maona, Bhabanipur and Kanchpur.
However the plight of merely around 100 found the fore, generally because these were members of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and were the larger gas consumers.
All of these systems are members of the state-owned Titas Gas Transmitting and Distribution Enterprise. The gas source is crucial for production since the industrial and commercial strength users convert it to create captive power for his or her own energy consumption.
"I could not go my factory since Tuesday night as the gas pressure varies between 1 to at least one 1.5 pounds per square inch (PSI) rather than the mandatory 15 PSI," explained Fazlul Hoque, controlling director of Ishraq Spinning Mill.
"Despite getting the low pressure I managed to produce 60 tonnes to 70 tonnes every day over the previous couple of months," said who owns the Maona-based factory found in Gazipur.
"But from Tuesday nighttime my mill features remained almost idle as the pressure is also low now," said Hoque, adding that he was capable of generating 125 tonnes of yarn a day had the supply of gas been normal.
"My buyers will be putting pressure on me for delivering the yarn promptly as they may also have to make timely shipment of things. Otherwise they will face work order cancellations and expensive atmosphere shipments," he said.
Likewise, Mosharaf Hossain, chairman and managing director of Mosharaf Group, possesses been making carry out with making 50 tonnes to 60 tonnes of yarn a day rather than the most common 130 tonnes below normal gas pressure.
The group has composite facilities at Bhabanipur in Gazipur comprising spinning, dyeing and garment production units.
"So everyday I have already been losing money and my buyers are putting pressure about me for speedy delivery of goods," Hossain told The Daily Celebrity.
He said his Tk 1,600 crore expenditure in his composite mill and 10,000 personnel would fall in danger if the factories could not be run completely swing.
The views of Hoque and Hossain were echoed by Azahar Khan, chairman of Mithela Textile Industries based at Araihazar in Narayanganj, and Saleudh Zaman, managing director of NZ Textiles, a spinning mill at Bhulta in Narayanganj.
They are also facing an acute gas crisis within their production units since March 13.
Azahar Khan said he was with the capacity of exporting $10 million worth of goods from his mills and factories on a monthly basis. However, the export shape was feared to come to be suprisingly low this month because of reduced development for low gas pressure.
"I also run my mills with rice husk since it is a good green factory and I could save 68 % of energy. But since it is not the season of rice husking, the outdated stock of husk provides been used up over the past a month," he said.
"THEREFORE I am in very big trouble nowadays," he added.
"That is gross negligence of the Titas," said Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of the BTMA, the program for most important textile millers.
"This state-owned company is not addressing worries despite repeated assurances over smooth way to obtain gas to the development units in those professional belts," he said.
"Right now (Wednesday) the BTMA sent a letter to the Titas demanding fixing the gas difficulty immediately. But actions is definitely yet to be studied by the Titas," Khokon told The Daily Star over the phone.
Every day over the last few months the customers of the BTMA have already been posting complaints with the association as they are facing losses as a result of gas crisis which includes severely affected productivity, Khokon said.
"I hope the challenge will be solved quickly. I hope to get the best," said Ali Iqbal Mohammad Nurullah, managing director of the Titas, over the telephone without elaborating.
