The presence of methane gas has been detected on the banks of the Padma River in the Premtali area of Godagari Upazila of Rajshahi. For the past few days, locals have been observing the presence of gas through bubbles in the river water and on the sand along the banks.
After the water receded last Tuesday, locals lit matches at the site of the bubbles and saw that the sand was on fire. This incident created a huge sensation in the area and the next day many people flocked to see the source of the gas.
Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Faisal Ahmed sent a team of the Fire Service after receiving the news. They confirmed the authenticity of the bubbles on the river bank. Later, the matter was reported to the state-owned oil and gas exploration company Bapex for examination.
On Saturday, Bapex Manager (Geology) SM Nafifun Arham, Deputy Manager Imamul Islam and Manager of Paschimchanchal Gas Company Limited Russell Kabir went to Premtali. They were accompanied by UNO Faisal Ahmed and Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Shamsul Islam.
The Bapex team detected the presence of methane gas using a gas detector on the riverbank and collected three bottles of gas from the bubble sites. They observed the origin of the bubbles from at least fifty places. They also went on a boat on the bank of the river about a kilometer away and observed the presence of gas bubbles from several more places.
UNO Faisal Ahmed said that after the presence of gas was confirmed, the area was declared protected and entry was prohibited. Bapex will start the next activities.
SM Nafifun Arham, the team leader of the physical survey of Bapex, said, "We have detected the presence of methane gas through the detector." The collected gas will be tested in a lab, which will confirm whether it is mineral gas or a small amount of gas produced by the decomposition of plants and soil.’
He also said, ‘It will be verified whether a survey has been conducted in this area in the past. If there is sufficient gas reserve, it is possible to extract it in the future.’
