State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has announced the new schedule for CNG filling stations and irrigation pumps to ensure the maximum availability of gas and electricity at the consumer level during Ramadan.

Accordingly, CNG filling stations for six hours daily from 4pm to 10pm from Wednesday to Apr 6. Meanwhile, electric irrigation pumps will run from 12am to 6am.

A government notice issued a day ago stated that CNG stations would be closed from 5pm to 10pm, but the downtime has now been extended by an hour.

The state minister said that the decision was made to keep power and fuel supply uninterrupted during the month of fasting and the irrigation season.

On Tuesday, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division announced that CNG filling stations would operate 24 hours from Apr 7 to Apr 18 to accommodate passenger travel during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

"Electric irrigation pumps can run from 12am to 6am. CNG filling stations will be closed from 4pm to 10pm. Then, from Apr 7 to Apr 18, CNG stations will be open for 24 hours a day. That is how we have set up the energy plan. In this way, we want to maintain uninterrupted electricity and fuel supply during this month," said Hamid.

Addressing the current gas shortage, the state minister noted that another Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) will not be available until Mar 30.

Consequently, the availability of gas from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has decreased from 20 percent to 10 percent. Domestic gas production has also fallen by 100 million cubic feet.

Taking these factors into consideration, he advised households experiencing gas shortages to consider using Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as an alternative.

"No industrial areas are being closed. Markets will also remain open as per previous rules," he said.