An acute natural gas deficit paralysing Bangladesh’s primary port city erupted into widespread civil disruption early on Friday, 14 August, after hundreds of three-wheeler taxi operators mounted a major road blockade in central Chittagong.
The demonstration began at dawn in the Sholashahar district, where exasperated drivers deployed their vehicles to seal off the busy thoroughfare connecting Muradpur to the 2-No. Gate intersection. The protest swiftly brought morning vehicular movement to a complete standstill, leaving local commuters stranded and triggering severe traffic jams across surrounding urban corridors.
The immediate trigger for the unrest is a crippling shortfall in compressed natural gas (CNG) supplies across the metropolitan area. Commercial auto-rickshaw drivers, who rely entirely on CNG to run their daily services, reported waiting in multi-kilometre queues outside refuelling stations for upwards of 24 consecutive hours without receiving fuel.
For the city’s transport workers, the operational failure has proved economically catastrophic. Most operators work on narrow daily margins, paying fixed vehicle rental fees to fleet owners while absorbing their own fuel expenses.
“I have been unable to earn a single taka for two consecutive days because there is no gas to be had,” said Tarek Miah, an auto-rickshaw driver participating in the blockade. “My household expenses continue to accumulate regardless. We spend entire nights queued outside stations, only to be told there is no pressure in the lines.”
Another protesting driver, Badsha Miah, described spending the night parked outside a filling station to no avail: “Nobody can tell us when fuel will be restored. If we are forced to sit idle day after day, how are we supposed to feed our families?”
The crisis stems from severe pressure drops across the distribution network operated by Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL). Station managers confirmed that supply from the national grid has fallen drastically short of local demand, leaving pumps incapable of delivering gas to commercial vehicles.
Representatives at the Fossil Filling Station in Sholashahar, where hundreds of green auto-rickshaws lined the road, stated that operations remain completely halted until normal pipeline pressure is re-established by central energy authorities.
The acute shortage has created a severe ripple effect throughout Chittagong’s public transit network. With thousands of auto-rickshaws grounded, ordinary citizens faced immense difficulty reaching their destinations on Friday morning. Office workers and travellers reported waiting hours for alternative transport, whilst fares for the few vehicles still operating surged well above standard rates.
Law enforcement contingents were deployed to Sholashahar shortly after the blockade was established to negotiate an end to the standoff. Mohammad Jahedul Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Panchlaish Police Station, confirmed that police teams are on site attempting to persuade the drivers to clear the carriageway.
However, demonstrator representatives have firmly rejected calls to disperse, maintaining that the blockade will remain in place until government officials provide concrete guarantees regarding the immediate restoration of fuel supplies.
