Zakia Raihana lives on Road no. 7 in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. Her home has a connection to Titas Gas, but she faces constant hardship. Without gas when needed, she cannot cook. This Ramadan, the problem has reached its peak.

Zakia told Prothom Alo, “For the past four days, no flat in the building has gas. Neighbouring flats also have none. People are suffering a lot. This cannot continue.”

This gas shortage is not new; it has persisted for more than one and a half decades. During this period, gas prices have risen sharply. Though imports were initiated to ease the crisis, it has instead strained the economy. The country faces large debts, yet the gas shortage remains unresolved.

Gas is required not only for cooking, but also for industry, power generation and fertiliser production. Part of the transport sector also runs on gas. Officials of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and energy experts say one of the major challenges facing the new government is increasing gas supply. If that cannot be done, people’s suffering will not ease.

At the same time, if the industrial sector does not receive gas, investment and employment will be hampered. It will also be difficult for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government to achieve its economic targets. The party has said it wants to raise the size of Bangladesh’s economy to one trillion dollars by 2034, which currently stands at about 450 billion dollars (one trillion equals one thousand billion).