Residents of Golabganj upazila in Sylhet issued a seven-day ultimatum on Sunday, demanding gas supply and threatening to seize the Golabganj Gas Plant on July 8 if their demands were not met.
The ultimatum was announced at a press conference, held at Sylhet Zilla Press Club by the National Oil-Gas Protection and Rights Implementation Sangram Parishad, Golabganj, a local pressure group.
The organisation鈥檚 convener and Golabganj upazila municipal councillor, Tuhin Ahmed Khan, read out a statement on behalf of the group and the upazila residents.
Tuhin highlighted that despite the extraction of gas from Golabganj wells for decades, benefiting the national economy, 75 per cent of the upazila鈥檚 residents still lacked household gas connections.
He noted that the new wells, recently discovered in the area, could add gas worth Tk 1,620 crore to the national grid per day, yet the local people continued to be deprived of gas connections despite repeated requests.
He also raised concerns about the lack of employment opportunities for qualified locals in the gas field and the acute water crisis caused by the continuous extraction of fuel gas, which has lowered the underground water level.
Tuhin declared that if steps were not taken by July 7 to provide household gas connections, recruit local candidates for gas field jobs, and install sufficient deep tube-wells to address the water crisis, the residents would seize the Golabganj Gas Plant on July 8 to press their demands.
The group plans to submit a memorandum to prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday through the local upazila nirbahi officer. They will also conduct mass campaigns in marketplaces and public gathering spots from July 2 to July 5 and make public announcements across the upazila on July 6 and July 7 to garner support for their demands.
Among others, National Oil-Gas Protection and Rights Implementation Sangram Parishad, Golabganj鈥檚 joint-convenors Anwar Shahjahan and Nazim Uddin, member secretary Abdul Latif Khan, and Golabganj municipality councillor Faruk Ali attended the press conference.
