Three-Day Gas Shutdown Brings Habiganj Industry to Standstill

Industrial activity in Habiganj has come to a near-complete halt after gas supplies to the district’s industrial belt were cut off for three consecutive days, leaving more than 150 factories unable to maintain normal production. The disruption has also been compounded by electricity shortages, with some industrial units reportedly left without power as machinery remains idle.

The prolonged interruption is placing significant financial pressure on industrial entrepreneurs, while workers fear that a continued crisis could eventually lead to job losses. Around 150,000 workers are estimated to be directly dependent on the industrial sector in the affected area, meaning the consequences extend well beyond factory gates.

Habiganj has developed into an important industrial hub, particularly along the corridor stretching from Olipur towards Madhabpur. The area hosts textile, spinning, denim and other manufacturing facilities that depend heavily on a reliable supply of gas and electricity. Previous episodes of low gas pressure have already affected production in the region, but the latest complete shutdown has created a far more serious disruption.

Mohammad Majed Hossain, general manager of Square Denim Ltd, said both gas and electricity supplies were unavailable, forcing the company to stop its machinery. He expressed concern that keeping sophisticated equipment shut down for an extended period could itself cause damage.

According to him, the company requires about 102,597 cubic metres of gas a day through one line and another 86,028 cubic metres through a second line. Neither line had received gas for three days.

The situation has been similarly difficult at SM Spinning. General manager Mohammad Abul Bashar said the factory requires around 1.035 million cubic metres of gas each month, equivalent to roughly 34,500 cubic metres a day.

He said the company received gas at about 60 per cent of the required level on Friday morning, but the supply suddenly fell to around 20 per cent at noon. At such a low level, operating the machinery becomes extremely difficult. Frequent interruptions in electricity and gas supplies also raise the risk of damage to sophisticated equipment, he said.

The financial impact is growing by the day. Bashar said exports had already fallen by about 13 per cent and that some orders were being cancelled. The consequences, he stressed, could spread through the wider supply chain. Spinning mills supply yarn to fabric manufacturers, while fabric producers serve garment exporters. A disruption at one stage can therefore affect businesses and workers at several other stages.

At Saiham Group, general manager and engineer Mohammad Rezaul Haque said the factory received no gas at all on Friday. The management had not sent workers home, however, choosing instead to keep them available in the hope that supplies would resume. He said some modern machines could be extremely difficult, or even impossible, to repair if they were damaged by repeated interruptions.

Official figures cited by industrial stakeholders put the number of small and large industrial establishments in Habiganj at 171. The gas crisis had reportedly persisted for around 20 days before supplies stopped completely on Wednesday. Since then, production at at least 150 factories has been severely disrupted.

Conditions inside several factories illustrate the scale of the problem. Some have granted leave to employees, leaving normally busy production floors unusually quiet. Others have continued recording workers’ attendance despite the suspension of production, apparently in the hope that operations can restart as soon as gas becomes available.

Workers are also facing mounting uncertainty. One employee, Farash Debnath, said production had already been affected for several days because of inadequate gas pressure. With the supply now completely cut off, workers have little to do. If the situation continues, he fears that household incomes will be affected.

Shefali Begum, a female factory worker, described the problem in similarly direct terms. Her family depends on her daily earnings, she said, and when factories stop operating, workers lose their income as well.

The disruption also highlights the vulnerability of gas-dependent industries. Manufacturing plants rely not only on the availability of gas but also on stable pressure and uninterrupted electricity. Sudden fluctuations can make production inefficient and, in some cases, expose expensive machinery to operational risks.

The local gas distributor has acknowledged that the situation remains unresolved. Mohammad Ruhul Karim Chowdhury, deputy general manager of Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd, said the company was facing the same wider supply constraints affecting other parts of the country. He said there had been some gas availability on Thursday night, but the improvement lasted only a short time before supplies again fell away.

There had been an expectation that the situation might improve from 15 August, but, according to the official, the distributor had received no formal notification confirming such a restoration schedule. The local distribution company, he explained, distributes the gas but does not control the overall allocation; that responsibility lies with Petrobangla.

For Habiganj’s industrial community, the immediate concern is therefore not simply when production will resume, but how much longer factories, workers and supply chains can withstand the disruption. If the shutdown persists, the effects could move from temporary production losses to cancelled orders, reduced exports, equipment damage and employment pressures across the wider industrial economy.