Sunamganj, Feb. 26 -- Chhatak Cement Factory, the country's oldest cement plant, has ceased operations due to a severe shortage of gas and limestone.

Established in 1937 on the banks of the Surma River near the India-Bangladesh border, the factory remains idle, struggling to secure essential raw materials.

Now under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) of the Ministry of Industries, the factory is gradually rusting despite the completion of its modernisation project.

Sources said BCIC undertook a Tk 667 crore project in 2016 to convert the factory's production process from the wet method to the dry method, aiming to increase daily production capacity to 1,500 metric tonnes (4.5 lakh metric tonnes annually).

They said ...