The government has ordered industrial units in Chittagong not to use gas from 6.00pm to 6.00am for five days in a week. A complete shutdown will remain in force for the other two days.

Those who have received the order include captive power plants, steel mills, re-rolling mills and packaging factories.

The move taken by Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd is meant to ensure gas supply to the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) that has resumed production after several months of shutdown.

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But the business community in Chittagong is angered by the notice.

The restriction on the use of gas would severely affect businesses, they said. The order, if enforced for a longer period, might push many companies to the brink of bankruptcy, they warned.

"Chittagong businesspeople are facing discrimination," said Morshed Murad Ibrahim, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The companies will suffer severe economic losses due to the supply shutdown, he said.

Echoing Morshed's view, M Firoze, head of marketing and product development at BSRM Group, said the rerolling mills would suffer the most.

Production slowed at around 200 large and medium industrial units in Chittagong due to an already-existing shortage of gas, Firoze said.

Morshed said Chittagong used to get 220 million cubic feet (mmcfd) of gas per day when the gas production was 1,750 mmcfd.

Now, the production has gone up to 2,250 mmcfd but the share of gas supplied to Chittagong has been reduced to around 180 mmcfd, Morshed told The Daily Star by phone.

In order to save the industries from the damage, the CCCI president sought the prime minister's intervention

in resolving the issue.

The Chittagong business community on October 17 would hold a sit-in programme in front of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company, demanding uninterrupted gas supply.

Firoze said it would be difficult for the companies to repay their loans in time if their business plans were affected by the move.

An official of Petrobangla, a government-owned oil and gas company, explained why the inconvenient move had been taken.

CUFL needs 50 mmcfd gas and there is already a heavy shortfall in gas supply in Chittagong. To meet CUFL's demand, the government thought out several options. Accordingly, it chose to shut down the gas-based government power plants in Chittagong and divert gas to CUFL, the official said.

In addition, the gas produced by Sangu field, which is directly purchased by the Power Development Board, is also diverted to CUFL.

It has created an additional power shortage.

But these steps were not enough to ensure a steady pressure of gas flow to CUFL. The government asked some major gas consumers in the private sector, such as captive power plants and steel rerolling mills, to shut their operation at night.

The move is temporary, the official said.