Production at Ashuganj Fertiliser and Chemical Company Limited (AFCCL) came to a halt due to a mechanical fault in cooling tower yesterday afternoon.

According to AFCCL office sources, due to malfunctioning of the cooling tower for the last few days, the level of its temperature was fluctuating frequently. As a result, the

units became overheated decreasing the urea production at the factory.

The factory's production came down to 1214 metric tonnes (MT) from 1350 MT and consequently the authorities stopped running the factory to repair the faults, said an official.

The engineers and technicians at the factory are working round the clock to repair the faults, he said.

Sources said it will take at least seven days for the engineers of the factory to repair the fault as they will have to clean all the tubes and shells of the cooling units besides repairing the heater and malfunctioning tubes.

Contacted, Md Osman Gani, managing director (MD) of AFCCL, said they have stopped the functioning of the factory to repair the faults.

"The engineers and techni-

cians of the factory are working round the clock Production is likely to resume on or before August 11," he said.

The MD also said that boiler tubes and heater cells of the factory often become blocked with silica and mud of Meghna River as the turbidity of the water of the river increased sharply.

This results in overheating of tubes and pipes of the boiler, he added.