Flawed system, misgovernance cripple Titas

Some Titas gas company officials are more interested in corruption than providing service to consumers and this leads to casualties due to explosions, energy experts said, while reflecting on the recent Narayanganj mosque fire that has so far claimed 32 lives.

They said people are suffering due to the greed of the dishonest and corrupt Titas officials who are thriving on a flawed system under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

"Titas has turned into an enemy of the people. The situation has come to a point that we think if Titas does not give us any service, we will be safe," Prof M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), told The Daily Star.

"We are forced to pay Titas officials. We are giving them money in bribes, paying extra charges due to price hikes of gas and at the same time they are providing gas through an illegal network," said the energy expert, adding that gas has been leaking from around 70,000 points in Dhaka city due to poor quality and illegal gas supply.

"We have to pay through our lives [at times] due to their corruption," said Prof Alam.

Dhaka University professor Badrul Imam echoed Alam's statement.

"They are not committed to their work. The illegal network of gas pipelines is their creation and general people are suffering for that," said Imam.

The illegal gas lines are just ticking time-bombs, he said.

"People were killed. In many places these [death traps] are in a latent situation."

He identified poor quality of raw materials used for illegal gas connections and worn pipes as the main reasons for frequent gas explosions.

He said Titas should snap the illegal connections and think of overhauling the existing network to avert further accidents and casualties.

"We saw that whenever there is any eviction against illegal connections, resistance comes from influential people."

Imam suggested that the government make alternative fuel for domestic and industrial use popular to ease the burden on gas from pipelines.

"If needed, the government can subsidise LPG prices so that people do not run after pipeline gas."

Energy expert and BUET professor M Tamim thinks the main problem of Titas lies in its management.

"Basically, poor administration and poor management merged together. Illegal gas connections, gas line leakage, corruption are all interrelated," Said Tamim, former adviser to a caretaker government.

Only seven to eight percent of the people get access to natural gas from the pipelines, which is unfair for those who are deprived of it.

"One person is getting gas round the clock for TK 950 a month and the next one is using an LPG cylinder for Tk 1,000. There is a discrepancy and if we don't address it, the demand for illegal gas connection will be there," said M Tamim.

Tamim said poor maintenance of old gas pipelines is another reason for accidents.