Eighty per cent of the disconnected customers under 80 Palli Bidyut Samities (PBSs) of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) had their power restored on Tuesday after cyclonic storm Remal wreaked havoc on the electricity connections across the country.
As a result, according to a press release from the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, electricity had been restored to 24.2 million customers by Tuesday evening, with the remaining reconnections continuing gradually.
The ministry said that they expect 90 per cent of the customers will have their power restored by Wednesday morning.
Cyclone Remal made landfall on Sunday evening with strong winds and crashing waves, battering the coast and moving northwards. The storm and the heavy rains and gusty winds caused by it led to widespread destruction of homes, ruptured seawalls and inundated cities across the nation throughout Monday.
Remal caused power outages affecting approximately 30.3 million customers in 80 PBSs under BREB and resulted in damages amounting to Tk 110 crore for BREB and the West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL), as stated in an earlier press release from the power ministry.
However, the press release did not mention the damages or the number of customers without electricity under the country's other four electricity distribution companies, indicating that the overall impact could be even greater.
In Dhaka, significant damage to the distribution lines of the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO) was reported on Monday due to cyclone Ramal. Many areas in the capital experienced widespread power outages. Despite some improvements by Monday night, several areas remained without power as of Tuesday.
Officials from DPDC and DESCO attributed the extensive damages and power outages solely to the cyclone.
DPDC's Managing Director Abdullah Noman told the Business Post that the strong winds had caused many trees to fall on electrical lines, and load mismanagement had led to transformer explosions.
Additionally, waterlogging in many areas caused power shutdowns, contributing to the outages.
Nonetheless, by Monday afternoon, 70 per cent of the power situation had improved, and power was fully restored in the DPDC area by 9pm.
However, residents of Dhaka expressed their frustration during the prolonged outages.
Asif Hassan, a resident of Mirpur, described the weak distribution lines in the capital as very disappointing. "It is unacceptable to be without power for hours in a place like Dhaka," he said.
A DESCO official said that quick recovery was challenging due to the storm, as large trees had fallen on power lines in many areas, requiring time to clear.
