Dhaka: More than 200 illegal residential gas connections were disconnected during a mobile court drive in Shibpur upazila of Narsingdi today. The drive was conducted from afternoon to evening in the Kararchar Madina Jute Mill area, led by Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate F.M. Naim Hasan Shuvo.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, officials from the Titas Gas Narsingdi office and law enforcement agencies took part in the operation. During the drive, house owners Awal Bhuiyan, Roson Akter, and Md Muslim Mia were fined Tk 2 lakh, Tk 40,000, and Tk 2 lakh respectively for using illegal gas connections. Ahammad Ullah, manager (Emergency) of Titas Gas Narsingdi office, noted that the drive was launched following information that a large number of unauthorised connections had been installed in houses in the area.
Teams searched several houses and disconnected more than 200 illegal connections, permanently sealing the lines. Ahammad Ullah added that the house owners had been using the connections secretly for years without valid approval or authorisation. An initial estimate suggests that the unauthorised use of gas over the past five years caused the government a financial loss of around Tk 13 million.