Home ›› 02 Aug 2022 ›› Front
It has been 13 days since the government said it would review the decision to have scheduled area-based one-hour power cuts across the country after a week and then move to either increase or decrease the frequency. But the decision has yet to come.
Meanwhile, the situation around the country has worsened with people in different parts suffering from reported load shedding of up to seven to eight hours. People in some places also alleged that they were facing 12-hour-long power cuts.
In Dhaka city, more than two hours of load shedding have happened. Outside of the capital, power cuts are happening more during the night, according to data from the country’s six power distribution companies.
According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), a maximum of 11,036 megawatts (MW) of electricity was generated during the daytime on Sunday against a demand of 12,000 MW. On the other hand,
power generation during the night was 12,836 MW against a demand of over 13,500 MW.
A deficit of 1,000-1,500 MW of electricity during the day and night is leaving people struggling more.
Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) says there is a shortage of 200 MW of electricity in areas under its jurisdiction while Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO) says there is a deficit of 162 MW in its areas.
On Monday, DPDC Managing Director Bikash Dewan told The Business Post that load shedding has to be done for at least one-and-a-half to two hours when the weather temperature is high.
“We are pushing to increase power generation. But as the government is unable to improve the situation, we are forced to increase the load shedding,” he said.
No answer to why no review yet
The government was supposed to review the decision on area-based daily power cuts after a week. That week ended on July 25 and no new decision was announced until Monday.
Reached for comment, Power Division Secretary Habibur Rahman requested this correspondent to talk to State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid. The state minister was unavailable for comments.
Meanwhile, the Rural Electrification Board (REB) has said that it is experiencing a power deficit of 1,000 MW per day.
While electricity demand increases at night, load shedding cannot be carried out in various essential sectors, including industries. Due to this, more power cuts are happening in some areas under the same sub-stations.
The situation outside Dhaka is worsening day by day with eight to nine hours of load shedding occurring daily. Some 80 societies under REB are struggling to carry out power cuts as per the rules and failing to keep power cuts under one hour.
REB officials say that 116 of their 169 feeders have industries in the Nabinagar area of Savar. Load shedding is supposed to be carried out in 53 other areas. But if electricity is to be provided to all industrial areas, these 53 areas will have no power all the time. “That’s why we are carrying out load shedding in the industrial areas as well.”
12 hours of load shedding!
This correspondent spoke to people of different districts outside Dhaka who said that they faced seven to eight hours of load shedding every day over the past two weeks.
Sixteen districts in the northern region of the country are struggling the most. Among them, there were reports of load shedding for 12 hours last Sunday in Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj district.
Pronoy Kumar, who lives in that region, said they are living without electricity for most of the daytime. “Even if the power comes back, we don’t get for over 30 minutes.”
AKM Shahdat Hossain, the executive engineer of Northern Electricity Supply Company (NESCO), confirmed that routine load shedding for 12 hours was being carried out in each of the 12 feeders. But due to a 45-50 per cent shortage, they were failing to supply electricity as per routine.
NESCO says the average power demand in Pabna town was 25 MW daily but there is only 12-15 MW available. On the other hand, Palli Bidyut Samiti-1 in Pabna has a daily demand of 85 MW but is only supplied with 40-50 MW.
In Sylhet district, 71 MW is being supplied against BPDB’s demand of 150 MW. Also, only 57 MW is supplied against 117 MW of rural electricity demand.
People of Sylhet city said that load shedding was not occurring for one hour every day as per routine. Power cuts between a minimum of 30-45 minutes are happening multiple times throughout the day.
