Power sector in shambles

We have just come to know that Payra Power Plant would be non-operational because of coal shortage. Coal couldn’t be imported because of dollar crisis. Higher ups in the government states that it would take at least a month for the coal to arrive by ship. And once the ship with coal lands the power crisis will be over. As if the fate of electricity depends on only the power generation by the Payra Power Plant. This was not even the half truth. The truth wasn’t said. The truth is that less than one third of power plants are now generating electricity at full capacity.

What about the others out of the total 153 power plants? Of the total 153 power plants, only 49 are operating at full capacity. Good enough for us to understand the gravity of the situation. This searing heat of summer is unlikely to see any improvement in power generation. People have to be in riot gear to withstand the violence of the

boiling heat.

At least 53 power plants have remained closed either for maintenance works or for fuel shortage as the country has run short of dollars. Those 53 power plants have a combined capacity of producing 4, 930 megawatts, shows the data of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh. The other 51 power plants have the capacity of producing 7, 855 megawatts but they are generating only 3, 568 megawatts. Under this circumstance, shutting down of Payra Power Plant has only aggravated the power situation in the country.

Another big power producer in the country is the Rampal Power Plant. It is too generating power less than its capacity. It resumed operation on May 16 after three weeks of closure due to coal shortage. So, coal shortage is not something new. In fact, the power generation began to come down much earlier. We can now feel the gravity of the crisis after the closure of the Payra Power Plant.

Of the five coal-fired power plants, only the Adani Power Plant in India’s Jharkhand is supplying at its full capacity of 748 megawatts of electricity. There is reportedly no crisis of coal or other kinds of fuel in the international market. The problem is the country has shortage of dollars for which the government so far has not taken any serious measures. The power crisis has basically emanated from raging inflation leading to dollar crisis.

The prime minister the day before yesterday asked the ministries concerned to come up with a roadmap to tackle inflation and power crisis. Though late but finally the prime minister gave the order from a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). She also ordered the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to have larger stocks of essential items so that the organisation can check the market manipulation with their stocks.

Of course, it is a timely and thoughtful decision of the prime minister. But the question is what the ministries concerned and the central bank have done to tame the inflation. Why does the prime minister have to direct and instruct them what is to be done? This is disheartening to see that during this deepening crisis of dollars and power cuts our department and ministries concerned have failed to come up with any realistic and pragmatic measures to alleviate people’s sufferings.

We hope that the ministries concerned, the central bank and other stakeholders will work together at this critical juncture of the nation. We need immediate solution to the existing problems and a roadmap for the long-time solution to our economic woes.