In Cantonment area the supply was accidentally snapped for two to three hours and as a result the prime minister's residence remained without gas till the authorities restored it from an alternative source, sources said.

Gas supply will not be restored before 10:00am today in the other areas.

Supply of gas was suspended from 12 noon yesterday in Mirpur, Gulshan, Banani, Badda, Ananda Nagar, Post Office Road, Satarkul, Rampura and Shahjadpur.

Besides, in Tejgaon, Mohakhali, Mogbazar, Malibagh and Khilgaon pressure of gas remained low.

The gas shortage also compounded commuters' woes, as there were very few gas-fired three wheelers and taxis plying the city streets. The three wheelers also charged exorbitant fares and refused to follow their meter readings.

"Whereas I regularly pay around Tk 30 to go to my office in Kakrail from Bangla Motor area, I had to pay Tk 45 (yesterday) because the CNG three wheelers refused to comply with their meters," said 35-year old Masum Hossain.

There was a heavy rush of CNG-run vehicles in over three-dozen gas refilling stations in the city yesterday.

Residents had to depend on outside food supplies, as restaurants remained closed in these areas.

"But this suffering will pay dividend during the winter," says a Petrobangla official who oversees this technical task, "normally every winter Dhaka experiences low gas pressure because a gas by-product, named condensate, accumulates in the pipeline in low temperature. High condensate in the pipelines reduces gas supplies."

He explained that a new gas pipeline between Demra and Gulshan has been installed to avert the low gas pressure problem. Gas supplies had to be suspended in selected areas to install a devise at the two ends of the pipeline.

"We have also set up a 20-inch pipeline in Manohardi the day after Eid. We now have normal gas supply and pressure. We believe we will be able to supply around 1260 million cft of gas per day across the country without disruption during the winter," he pointed out.