The Chattogram-Dhaka oil pipeline will be put into trial operation in February and commercial operation in March. The pipeline will bring relief in many ways, including preventing wastage in fuel oil transportation, said Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) Chairman Amin ul Ahsan.

He told Barta24.com that many challenges had to be faced in transporting oil from Chattogram to Dhaka. If the pipeline is launched, safe transportation of oil will be ensured. In addition, the issue of cost and wastage in bringing it in lighterage will also be eliminated.

In response to a question, he said, diesel will be brought through the pipeline. Diesel constitutes 70 percent of the fuel oil we use. That demand will be ensured. Petrol and octane will come in the same way as they were supplied earlier, sometimes in railway wagons, sometimes in tankers by river.

In response to a question, the BPC Chairman said, many problems are faced in bringing oil by rail. It is difficult to get locomotives (engines) on time. Last week, I had to talk to the Railway Secretary himself to get the locomotive.

A preliminary survey was conducted for the Dhaka-Chattogram oil pipeline in 2017. Initially, the period was until December 2020. But the work started in 2020. In the first phase, the period was set to December 2022, and in the second phase, the period was extended to December this year. BPC said that the project period has been extended by another 6 months without increasing the cost.

Initially, the cost of the project was estimated at Tk. 2,861 crore. Currently, the cost has increased to about Tk. 3,699 crore. This project of BPC is being implemented by the 24th Engineer Construction Brigade of the Bangladesh Army. It is known that after the success of the company, they are also being given the work of the pending (Narayanganj-Airport) jet fuel pipeline.

Under this project financed by BPC, a 237-kilometer Dhaka-Chattogram, 59-kilometer Cumilla-Chandpur, and 8.5-kilometer Fatullah-Godnail Depot pipeline has been installed. BPC expects that once the pipeline is operational, transportation costs of Tk. 65 crore will be saved annually. In addition to saving costs, various complications will be eliminated.

There is a huge syndicate focused on transporting oil by lighterage on the river. Godnail Depot is known as a paradise for oil theft. The reason for that theft was the waste of time in unloading oil from the lighterage. BPC believes that this issue will also be brought under control once the pipeline is completed.

The owners of the lighterages transporting oil once took to the field in public to stop the project. It is because of them that the slow pace is noticeable. Again, people from the oil theft syndicate joined hands with them. Finally, the pipeline is going to see the light of day.

The BPC Chairman said that there will be no problem with the irrigation season as preparations have been made in advance. Supply has been ensured as per the estimated demand. Conferences are being held with distributors in the northern region. That too, keeps the irrigation season in mind.

The fuel transportation system in the northern region, known as the country's grain storehouse, was very complex with many gates and hand-to-hand exchanges. Oil was taken to Baghabari by lighterage, from there to tankers; another route is to reach it by railway. Now the Bangladesh India Friendship Pipeline has brought about a change there too. The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline construction project was undertaken in 2018 to provide uninterrupted, fast and cost-effective fuel supply to 16 districts of the northern region of the country. The construction period of the 131.50-km pipeline at a cost of Tk. 3,623 crore was till June 2023. The pipeline has been commissioned ahead of schedule. Oil is being imported through this pipeline, which extends from Numaligarh in India to Parbatipur depot in Bangladesh.

Currently, the demand for fuel oil in the country is about 73 lakh metric tons. It is estimated to be 93 lakh metric tons in 2030, of which 67.19 percent is diesel. Bangladesh does not produce fuel oil, but gasoline and about 40 percent of octane are supplied from condensate obtained from gas fields. A large amount of diesel and other products are imported. A large amount of fuel is imported by river. But due to the lack of navigability in river ports, large ships cannot dock at the ports. Therefore, they had to rely on lighterage ships.

The authorities have temporarily suspended ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia river route due to dense fog.

Salam Hossain, AGM of the Commerce Department of the BIWTC Aricha office, confirmed to Barta24.com that ferry services were suspended from 6:30 am on Sunday (December 22).

He said that fog started falling in the river area from midnight on Friday. The marking lights of the ferry became dim in the dense fog in the morning. Therefore, ferries are not being launched from the Paturia Ghat area to Daulatdia Ghat to avoid accidents on the river route.

He said that ferry services will be resumed when the fog in the river area decreases.

On December 9, the price of soybean oil was increased by Tk. eight per liter to keep the supply in the market normal. Then on December 16, the government exempted duty on soybean oil from import, production and trade levels to keep the price affordable. Still, retailers complain that they are not getting the product as per demand. And the common people have become hostage to it.

On a visit to various markets in the capital, including Karwan Bazar, it was seen that soybean oil is available as per demand in some places, and not in others. In some places, shopkeepers are saying that there is no oil. Again, in some places, there are complaints of this edible oil being sold at an excessive price.

A seller at Karwan Bazar's Mayer Doa General Store said, we have no problem in supplying soybean oil here. We are getting what we want. The same was said by some other sellers at Karwan Bazar's Messrs. Bandhu Store, Laxmipur Store and others.

The truth of this was also found from a buyer named Abdur Rahman. He said that he bought two liters of soybean oil without any problem.

However, the picture is different in Mirpur, Banglamotor and Nawabpur in Old Dhaka. Retailers in these areas complain that sales representatives (SRs) are not coming like before. Even though they are taking orders, they are taking limited orders. Therefore, they are forced to collect oil from the wholesale market.

Ripon Mia, owner of Ripon Store in Petrol Pump Alley on Banglamotor New Eskaton Road, said, earlier SRs used to come every week to take orders, but if they did not want to take them, they would force them to give orders. But now we have to force them. Even then, they are not taking orders as per the demand.

Mofazzal Hossain, owner of Mohsin Store, said the same thing. He said, earlier they used to come for orders every day, but now SRs are not seen at all.

A retail shopkeeper in Sheorapara, Mirpur in the capital, without disclosing his name, said, the company's people are not coming regularly to take orders. So now there is a problem in getting oil. When we get oil, we are selling it.

Rajib Bepari expressed his anger at such a mess with oil. He has just completed his master's degree and is working in a private company. He lives in a mess so most of the time he has to buy soybean oil in 1 or 2 liter bottles. But he often has to face harassment for this.

Rajib Bepari said, I have not found any soybean oil in 1 liter bottles after visiting two/three shops. Last week too, I had to face such harassment. If the government cannot control the traders and break the syndicate, then what is the difference with the previous government? The government should take effective steps quickly on these issues.

SM Nazer Hossain, Vice President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said that since the government has given in to the traders, it has increased the price. However, as a condition for increasing the price, the supply of soybean oil in the market should be good.

He said, the traders demanded an increase in the price; the government increased the price by Tk. 8. But the government had the responsibility to ensure availability. Now the government is playing a silent role by doing nothing.

He also said that their (traders) activities seem to create more crisis. As the trade advisor said earlier, there is enough stock in the supply line. If there is a problem in the supply line, why does it take so long to fix it?

Warning the government, SM Nazer Hossain said that the government will have to look into the supply issues.

On December 9, the government increased the price of soybean oil by Tk. 8 per liter. As a result, bottled soybean oil is now being sold at Tk. 175 per liter. Unopened soybean oil is being sold at Tk. 157 per liter. Unopened palm oil has also increased from Tk. 149 to Tk. 157 per liter. In addition, the price of five liters of bottled soybean oil is now Tk. 860.

The commission of inquiry has found India's involvement in Bangladesh enforced disappearances.

While presenting intelligence information about the prisoner exchange activities between the two countries and the possible fate of the detainees, the commission said in its report that India's involvement in the disappearances in Bangladesh has become a hot topic in the public.

The five-member commission headed by former Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury recently handed over the report titled 'Unveiling the Truth' to the chief adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus at the state guest house Jamuna in the capital.

The commission said that there is a strong indication in this regard among the law enforcement agencies that some of the prisoners may still be in Indian jails.

The commission said, we request the ministries of foreign affairs and home affairs to make every effort to trace any Bangladeshi nationals who are still in detention in India. Investigating this matter outside the borders of Bangladesh is beyond the jurisdiction of the commission.

Two highly publicized incidents mentioned in the report provide important evidence to understand how this disappearance process was carried out.

One of the incidents is the incident of Sukharanjan Bali, who was abducted from the Bangladesh Supreme Court premises and was later found an Indian prison, and the other is the incident of BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed.

In addition to these incidents, Hummam Quader Chowdhury said that people could be heard speaking in Hindi outside his prison, asking questions such as: When was he arrested? Did he give any information? Has he been interrogated yet? etc.

The commission said that the incident of BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed exemplifies some of the workings of the Bangladesh-India prisoner exchange system.

After being arrested while hiding in Uttara in 2015, he said that he was detained in an abandoned cell with a hole in the floor that was used as a toilet. The blanket given to him had the letters ‘TFI’ written on it, which indicates ‘Task Force for Interrogation’.

They said that the only active TFI centre at that time was under the supervision of the RAB Intelligence Wing, which operated under the RAB headquarters, but it was located inside a walled compound of the RAB 1 Battalion headquarters in Uttara, Dhaka.

The commission visited the facility and confirmed that the RAB Intelligence Wing still controlled access to it and held the key to it. However, the internal infrastructure of the facility had been completely demolished a few days ago.

The commission’s report said that witness accounts helped us identify various parts of the premises, including the location of the infamous torture chamber and cells.

They said that interviews with military personnel who visited the TFI centre in the early and mid-2010s revealed that the facility once had an additional floor with several cells, which is now inaccessible.

The report noted that we are still awaiting further evidence. However, it is initially suspected that Salahuddin Ahmed was being held in one of the now demolished cells. Salahuddin said he was taken to the India-Bangladesh border where he was handed over to Indian officials.

The report further said that the formal nature of the handover process deep inside Indian territory and the presence of suspected members of the Bangladeshi security forces wearing 'jam caps' to conceal their identities at the time clearly indicated that the incident took place through high-level coordination between the governments of the two countries and the security forces concerned.

The report said that further information about the prisoner exchange process between the two countries and the possible fate of the detainees was obtained from interviews with military personnel assigned to the RAB intelligence wing.