Staff Reporter :
The whole country, including the capital city, was hit by major blackouts yesterday (Saturday) after national transmission grid line from India broke down.
The blackout began in the morning and continued till late evening plunging the country into darkness. Only after nearly 10 to 11 hours, the power supply to the capital and some other cities resumed partially around 9:00 pm.
The power outage caused by national grid failure following the Bangladesh-India Power Interconnection Line at Bheramara in Kushtia tripped at about 11:30am, said the officials of Power Development Board (PDB). The sudden vacuum caused disruption of power generation at all power plants across the country.
“Possibly, the technical glitch took place at Baharampur point from where India supplies electricity to Bangladesh grid substation at Bheramara point,” said managing director of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Masum Al Beruni.
The country’s 166 million people were left without power for much of the day, although some parts of the country had the lights back on by around lunchtime for some minutes.
The overall situation was becoming normal after 9:00 pm, as the power supply resumed in parts of Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Rajshahi in the late evening, said Masum Al Beruni.
Some parts of the country were still plunging into darkness till filing the report at about 10:30 am. Blackout allover
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The power generation was 1,800mw at 9:00 pm against the demand of more than 6,000mw, said Masum Al Beruni.
The countrymen, particularly the people of divisional cities and district towns, cried for water following the blackout. The patients, particularly the patients of ICU, emergency and surgery in the hospitals, experienced untold sufferings due to the outrage. Many were deprived of medical services.
Not only the common people of the country, but also the President and the Prime Minister were also affected by the massive power outage, as there was no power in Bhangabhaban and Gono Bhaban as well.
Dhaka turned into a spectral city just after dusk, as the power outrage continued some hours. The city went back to 18th as well as before 1901, as the first electric light was introduced in Dhaka on December 7 in that year and it seems that the yesterday’s scenario was almost of that time. This was the country’s worst electricity outage since 2007, when a powerful cyclone knocked out the national grid for several hours. But the yesterday’s outrage was worst than 2007.
Such incident of the massive power collapse is a rare incident in the whole world. So, the news item hit the global media.
Authorities started working to restore power since its disruption. However, the power supply resumed at different parts in the afternoon. The national power grid collapsed again at about 4:30 pm, shortly after the partial resumption. With the second time failure, the entire country plunged into darkness, inflicting sufferings on people across the country.
Power supply resumed on emergency basis at Bangabhaban, Ganobhaban, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and some key institutions like Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital, BIRDEM, Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), some hours after disruption.
Even after emergency initiative, the airport operations continued through generators for several hours. DMCH also used a standby generator. Due to absence of electricity, hospital authorities could not prepare dinner for 3,150 patients. The hospital also suspended test and imaging service due to the power crisis.
Meanwhile, a committee was formed to investigate the power failure across the country. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu said that the body would submit a report in three days after investigation.
Bangladesh began importing electricity from India from October, 2013 through a 400-kilovolt transmission line that runs from Baharampur in the Indian state of West Bengal to the Bheramara point.
