Severe Narsingdi Gas Crisis Forces Factories to Burn Wood

A crippling natural gas shortage has brought industrial activity across Narsingdi to a virtual standstill, shutting down more than 100 manufacturing units for three consecutive days. Desperate to keep machinery running and fulfil commercial commitments, at least 50 factory owners have resorted to burning firewood as an emergency alternative fuel to power their steam boilers.

The crisis hits yarn-processing sizing units particularly hard. Operating without adequate pipeline pressure, these facilities now spend upwards of 10,000 Taka daily on firewood alone. At the Chouwala industrial estate, workers at units like Hoque Textile and Uniphil Textile Mills can be seen feeding timber logs into hungry boiler furnaces. Boiler operators report that garment offcuts, known locally as jhoot, previously served as secondary fuel, but soaring market prices for fabric scraps left timber as the only viable substitute.

Aslam Fakir, general secretary of the Chouwala Textile Mill Owners’ Association, observed that sizing and dyeing operations simply cannot run without steady gas flow. Across the district’s industrial belt, daily commercial losses have reached an estimated 300 crore Taka.

Narsingdi hosts over 4,000 industrial units of varying sizes, including roughly 3,000 textile, dyeing, sizing, spinning, and ready-made garment establishments. Approximately 400 of these enterprises rely entirely on piped natural gas, requiring an uninterrupted pressure between 10 and 15 PSI for standard production. While minor supply disruptions began in the first week of August, pressure collapsed entirely over recent days. Overall output across functioning units has plummeted by up to 70 per cent, with several plants operating at a meagre 10 per cent capacity whilst grappling with inflated operating costs.

At Momin Textile Mills, one of the oldest and largest export-oriented establishments in Chouwala, seven out of ten production units remain idle. The facility requires between 22,000 and 23,000 cubic feet of gas daily but currently receives merely 8,000 to 10,000 cubic feet. Despite holding a daily capacity of 2.5 million yards of fabric destined for markets in Sri Lanka and Vietnam, daily output has collapsed to a minuscule 20,000 yards. Around 1,500 of its 2,500 employees currently have no work on the factory floor, though management continues paying their wages to prevent workforce dispersion.

Managing director Masudur Rahman explained that pending export orders totalling two million yards remain stalled. While switching to liquefied petroleum gas remains a technical possibility, the conversion would raise production costs by at least 2.5 Taka per yard. International buyers are already expressing grave concern over energy stability, raising fears of permanent order cancellations.

Downstream weavers face similar disruptions. Al Madina Textile Mills, which relies on sizing units to prepare yarn before weaving grey cloth, saw its daily production fall from 100,000 yards to under 30,000 yards. The company has reduced operations from two daily shifts to one, sending nearly 100 of its 150 workers on leave.

Data from Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company reveals that Narsingdi district requires approximately 130 million cubic metres of gas monthly to sustain residential, commercial, industrial, and fertiliser manufacturing needs, including the Ghorashal-Palash Fertiliser Complex. Current deliveries have fallen well below half of this total requirement. While local Titas officials express hope for gradual improvements in the coming week, factory floors remain reliant on burning firewood to keep their operations alive.