Home ›› 23 Aug 2022 ›› Front
The government has decided to provide uninterrupted power supply to rural areas from midnight to dawn (12 pm to 6 am) for the sake of irrigation of Aman paddy.
The decision was made at the weekly cabinet meeting on Monday at the Secretariat, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair who virtually joined the meeting from Ganabhaban.
Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BERB) has been instructed to ensure uninterrupted power supply from midnight to dawn in rural areas for next 10-15 days to facilitate the ongoing Aman irrigation, said Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam at a briefing at the secretariat on Monday.
Mentioning that drought is occurring at various countries across the world, he said there is a massive water crisis for irrigation as the rainfall in July was 57 per cent less than compared to the previous year.
“So, everyone at the cabinet meeting suggested ensuring electricity in rural areas from midnight till dawn so that irrigation is not hampered,” he said.
Authorities concerned were also instructed to maintain uninterrupted power supply to gas and fertiliser factories so that their productions are not hampered.
Office hours rescheduled
At the cabinet meeting, the government rescheduled the office hours of all government and autonomous institutions from 8am to 3pm aiming to tackle the ongoing energy crisis, said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam.
The working time in offices will thus be seven hours, which is currently eight hours from 9am to 5pm, he said.
Besides, it was decided that all educational institutions would remain shut two days a week to save electricity and ease traffic jams. The new office schedules would come into effect on Wednesday and continue until further notice.
The cabinet secretary said private offices would decide on schedules themselves.
Anwarul said the weekly holiday for schools and colleges would be two days but the education ministry would provide the details.
Later in the day, the education ministry in a notification said schools would remain closed on Friday and Saturday.
Anwarul further said the cabinet had directed government offices to remove curtains to get natural light and use air-conditioners as little as possible to reduce electricity consumption.
The volatility created by the Russia-Ukraine war in the international energy market has impacted energy production in Bangladesh.
As a result, load-shedding recently returned across the country, and the government increased fuel prices by up to 50 per cent to tackle the situation.
Amid the crisis, the power and energy ministry recommended the Cabinet Division take several measures, including starting remote working facilities, cutting working hours in offices, and reducing the use of air-conditioners.
After holding a meeting on July 7 with the heads of all power distribution companies and other officials of the Prime Minister’s Office, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy advisor to the prime minister, said the subsidy pressure created by the increase in energy prices could be reduced only if everyone became frugal in the use of electricity.
The meeting also recommended setting the air-conditioner temperature above 25 degrees Celsius in all public and private offices, courts, and homes; ending weddings or other social events by 7pm; and reducing electricity consumption in markets, mosques, and shopping malls.
