Gas supply has resumed at the Jamuna Fertilizer Factory at Tarakandi in Jamalpur after a 216-day shutdown, Manab Zamin's Jamalpur town correspondent reports. Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company began feeding gas to the plant on Saturday night, and acting manager Delwar Hossain confirmed the resumption on Sunday.

Urea production at the plant, one of the largest in the country, has been halted since gas supply was cut on 15 February this year. At full running the factory produces about 1,700 tonnes of granular urea a day.

Its fertiliser is distributed across a 19-district command area that includes Jamalpur, Sherpur, Mymensingh and Tangail. The return of gas has brought relief to staff, local residents and people connected with agriculture, the report says.

Even with gas restored, the plant will need at least 15 days to start production, the factory authorities said. "Gas supply has started, but it will take at least 15 days to get the factory running and into production," Delwar Hossain said. If supply stays normal, the plant is expected back in production within that time.

With one of the country's big urea plants idle for more than seven months, fertiliser for the 19 north-central districts through the aman season has depended on imports and other factories; a restart would put local supply back on a normal footing before the boro season.

Reporting: Jamalpur town correspondent, Manab Zamin.

Source: Manab Zamin