<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>System loss in gas distribution segment has been brought down to 7.5 percent now from a 22 percent two years before.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid disclosed this while visiting the headquarters of the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited in the city on Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Now our target is to bring the system loss to a zero level in the next two years, " he said, giving a description of the recent moves of the Titas Gas Company.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Titas has been the largest entity in the gas distribution segment having about 2.8 million retail consumers, out of a total 4.8 million of the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state minister said that in the last two years a total of 865,000 illegal gas connections have been snapped. Of this, 336 are industrial connections, 475 commercial connections, 97 captive power plants, 13 CNG stations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“A total of 989 kilometers of illegal pipelines have been removed and Tk 604 crore has been fined from the illegal consumers”, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Briefing reporters, Nasrul said the government has been intolerant in taking action against illegal connections, reports UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He, however, admitted that some influential quarters including local lawmakers, public representatives of different levels have been the main impediments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“But mind it, the minister of the energy and power ministry is the Prime Minister herself and she has strong directives to remain uncompromising in this regard, " he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker and Titas managing director Engr. Md. Haronur Rashid Mullah were present on the occasion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nasrul informed that the Titras Gas Company has initiated a move to implement a Tk 12,000 crore project in the areas under Dhaka and Narayanganj cities to replace the old pipelines to stop gas leakages.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Apart from this, Titas Gas has been negotiating with different donor agencies including Asian Development Bank, World Bank and JBIC of Japan to install pre-paid gas meters to reduce system loss in the gas consumption.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath also said that all the distribution and transmission companies have installed meters to ensure accountability in gas trading among them.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>