‘Criminal case against officer who failed to prevent gas theft’
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Photo: Collected
Dhaka: In addition to departmental actions, Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Mohammad Saiful Islam has instructed to file a criminal case against an officer who failed to prevent gas theft and report it to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
He gave this instruction at an inter-ministerial meeting of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, a ministry source said.
In that meeting, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary also said that officials at all levels, starting from the general manager of the company, should be given zone-based responsibilities. They will deliver gas according to the meter. If the officers and employees assigned to the zone-based responsibilities fail to close illegal gas connections and reduce system losses, the annual bonus of the concerned officer should be stopped. And those who are able to achieve success should be rewarded.
It was decided in that coordination meeting to create a roadmap for all companies to reduce system losses to zero.
On the other hand, the government is going to tighten the law for illegal users. The government is getting tougher to prevent illegal gas connections, and it has been decided to bring them under criminal cases in addition to fines. The work of updating the policy has started in 2023. It is reported that the work of revising the necessary policy is in the final stage.
A general manager of Titas Gas Transmission Company told Barta24.com on condition of anonymity, "If the offender is my customer, then we can fine him. The amount of the fine varies in different cases. If someone uses the residential one illegally, we can collect a bill equivalent to one year. However, if the user is not a Titas customer, then we can only cut the line. In some cases, a complaint is filed with the police station. An executive magistrate is needed to punish or fine the illegal user.
If someone steals, there is a law in force, there is a judiciary and there are many organizations. He said that Petrobangla or Titas have no power to punish in the existing policy.
The official also said that it is the need of the hour to make a strict law in this regard. After disconnecting the illegal connection, that connection is being restarted. Multiple raids have to be conducted in the same area. If this continues, it will be difficult to stop gas theft completely.
In response to a question, he said, we can only disconnect the connection. We have nothing else to do. We run mobile courts, and when we go with the executive magistrate, he issues fines or punishments. Then, along with fines, he sometimes gives imprisonment.
The largest organization is Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, and Titas is responsible for most of the thefts. Out of the six gas distribution companies, Titas alone has been distributing 55.23 percent of the gas. Despite conducting raids throughout the year, gas theft cannot be stopped. News of illegal eviction raids are being received every day. Fines are being imposed, punishments are being given in mobile courts. In some raids, attacks have been made on Titas' people. Still, gas theft is being stopped.
There are allegations that Titas has a class of dishonest officials and employees who regularly collect monthly fees from these illegal connections. That is why the connection is restored only after conducting raids. In that case, many believe that filing a criminal case against the official may yield good results.
Until now, the method of measuring system loss was quite complicated. But now meters have been installed in Titas Gas zones, due to which it is visible what percentage of loss is happening in which zone. At one time, there was 40 percent system loss in one area in Gajaria, later Titas Gas closed the entire line in that area.
Shahnewaz Parvez, Managing Director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, told Barta24.com, after I took charge (from September to February 2), eighty-six operations are being conducted. During that time, a total of 21,780 illegal connections, including 172 industrial, 96 commercial, and 21,512 residential, have been disconnected. 108 kilometers of pipeline have been removed. The operation is continuing, there is no scope for any concession here. If anyone from our organization is involved, action is also being taken against them.
Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company is next to Titas in terms of system loss. The company responsible for distributing gas in Cumilla and Chandpur areas is losing 30 to 40 percent in some areas.
No official information is released regarding the overall system loss of gas; it is estimated to be above 10 percent. As such, 280 million cubic feet of gas out of the 2,800 million cubic feet supplied daily is being stolen. BERC has instructed that system loss should be brought down to below 2 percent. But there is no implementation of that order. If huge amounts of gas theft are prevented, there is no need for subsidies in this sector. At the same time, energy experts believe that the companies' profits will increase several times.
Energy expert Dr. Ijaz Hossain told Barta24.com that about 1 billion dollars worth of gas is being stolen annually in the name of system loss. If system loss (current loss 9.82) can be reduced by half, then 500 million dollars can be saved annually.