DSCC holds Titas Gas liable for leakage

The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has alleged that the authorities of Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution Company Limited were completely responsible for the gas line leakage at Dhanmondi-27 early Friday.

The accident was caused by negligent behaviour and lack of cooperation of Titas Gas authorities. Moreover, they were trying to cover their negligence by blaming the DSCC and providing distorted information to the media, according to a press release issued by DSCC on Saturday.

However, the authorities of Titas Gas admitted that there were some lacking in coordination which resulted into the incident.

The gas line leaked at around 4.30 am Friday when the DSCC was implementing ongoing development activities in front of Rapa Plaza on Dhanmondi 27 under its jurisdiction.

"Following the instructions of the DSCC mayor to remove the water blockage at Dhanmondi-27, as part of the installation of Storm Sewerage Line to remove the water blockage from Bangladesh Eye Hospital to the front of Rapa Plaza, the water 'capment area' of the concerned area has been divided into two sections," according to the statement.  

"The work of setting up the line was under implementation. A letter signed by Saiful Islam, executive engineer, Region-1, DSCC, was sent to all stakeholders on 12 August for smooth implementation and cooperation, which was received by Titas Gas Authority on 26 August," it reads.

The letter asked for a relevant representative of Titas Gas to be present at the workplace at all times while the work was underway to verify the presence of any of Titas Gas' installed utility services along the pipeline installation route.

But no representative of Titas Gas was present when the leak started, it reads. 

Also, after the incident, the responsible persons from Titas Gas visited the area and claimed that they did not receive any such letter from the DSCC. 

Notably, the Titas Gas Authority could not accurately pinpoint the portion the road and the depth of the line along the ground. Instead, Titas Gas authority brought some old sketched documents and presented them, saying that they had transmission lines on several roads.  

"The statements made by Titas authorities blaming DSCC for the gas line leakage are hundred percent untrue. They claimed that due to this line leakage, gas supply has been cut off in a significant part of Dhaka, including Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur and Shyamoli."

"Gas supply in the area was normal as the damaged line was a "redundant line" of Titas Gas, with no gas being supplied through that line. The actual transmission line ran about 7/8 feet away from the damaged line," it adds.

Considering the ground realities of the situation, after analyzing the overall data and reviewing the documents, the DSCC concluded that Titas Gas Company Limited is wholly responsible for this unwanted incident.

Besides, by providing distorted information to the media, the Titas Gas Authority has played an irresponsible role, reads the release.

Ali Mohd Al-Mamun, managing director of Titas Gas, told The Business Standard, "I have no idea who made DSCC liable for the leakage incident in media. There is nothing to play blame game here."  

He added that the incident was the outcome of a lack of coordination, and mutual cooperation in the future might prevent such issues. 

The DSCC believes that rather than engage in this blame game, a coordinated development effort amongst all the organisations may help ensure seamless services to the people of Dhaka.