The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has taken preparations, including opening control rooms, and issued some directives as cyclone Remal was likely to make landfall in Bangladesh on Sunday evening.
The preparations were taken in line with the advice from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the power ministry said in a press release on Sunday.
The other measures taken by the ministry include posting staff in vacant posts in an expeditious manner and cancelling all leaves of the staff of Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) and West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC) in Khulna and Barishal regions, and protecting the development works of the government from the cyclone’s impact.
Preparing extra manpower to provide the necessary support to the cyclone-related works of the BREB and WZPDC in the Khulna and Barishal regions is also a part of the preparations.
The ministry said that all have to remain alert so that nobody can touch any power lines snapped by storm and immediately contact the nearest power offices if any snapped electrical wire is seen anywhere.
The ministry also advised all to call the number 16999 of the call centre for any electricity-related needs.
The BREB control room (contact number- 01792-623467, 02-8900575), the WZPDC’s Barishal region office (01713-850218), Khulna region office (01713-850211), Patuakhali region office (01713-850219) will remain open round the clock.
Apart from this, the BREB and WZPDC have opened their control rooms in each of the districts to deal with the cyclone.
Meanwhile, two oil tankers have been sent to the deep sea area and it will be possible to supply 700 MMCFD gas from two FSRUs (LNG terminals) by 4pm and 1,000 MMcf/d gas by night.
Fuel transportation in inland waterways will remain closed.
To deal with the disaster situation arising from the cyclone (in terms of landslides), people in Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts are requested to contact the Directorate of Geological Survey of Bangladesh on the following numbers: 01712-811252, 01715- 821802, 01912-675180, 01717-293411, 01726-706755, 01552-447093.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has also opened a control room with the mobile number 01755-587627 and land phone number +8802333316335, according to the power ministry release.
