<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited has started a drive to disconnect gas lines of about 20,000 customers in the Dhaka metropolitan area – to realise Tk 400 crore bills that are due.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We started the drive since September this year. From today, the drive will be conducted mainly in Gulshan, Banani, Tejgaon, Nakhalpara, Tejkunipara and Badda areas under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC),” Rashidul Hasan, general manager (revenue) of Titas Gas, told UNB.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thirty Titas Gas teams are now engaged in the drive against default consumers, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He informed that Titas has a total of 600,000 consumers under six zones in Dhaka metropolitan city. The zones are: Kuril, Motijheel-1, Motijheel-2, Tikatuli, Sobhanbagh and Mirpur.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">About 20,000 consumers have failed to pay the bills in time – with each zone having 3,000-3,500 defaulting consumers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Most of these are household gas connections,” said Rashidul Hasan, adding that if the defaulting consumers pay their arrear bills within a specific date, Titas will restore their connections.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Titas officials said they have been issuing notices to the defaulting consumers for a long time to pay their respective outstanding bills. But many consumers are still not heeding to the notices.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Titas Gas has a total of 2.8 million consumers across its command areas – mainly in greater Dhaka and Mymensingh, according to officials.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Mymensingh, Tangail, Sherpur, Jamalpur are in the Titas areas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Officials of Titas said that there are a huge number of illegal gas connections in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Munshiganj areas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“These illegal gas connections could be over 300,000 in Titas areas, although the exact number could not be confirmed,” Rashidul Hasan said. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>