A Correspondent :
Konka Chowdhury of Teri Bazar is one of the worst sufferers of the soaring temperature this summer as Chittagong city has been gripped by frequent power cuts for around a month.
“Although my family arranged an IPS (instant power supply) device for me, it cannot support for such a long time,” said the pregnant woman.
Like Konka, suffering of dwellers from every walk of life knows no bound.
Locals from different areas told this correspondent that they were experiencing power outage 10 to 12 times almost every day and do not get electricity for around 7 to 8 hours on an average.
“My two-year-old baby can’t sleep a bit due to severe heat,” said Rehnuma Khanam, a resident of Bibirhat, adding, “I can’t tolerate my baby’s suffering.”
Tickly Sarkar, a student of English at Chittagong College, who resides in Chawk Bazar DC Road area, said, “My honours final exams are going on but I can’t take preparation properly due to frequent outages.”
In the evening, her suffering doubled, she said.
Amid intolerable heat, it was not possible to concentrate on studies at daytime, she said, adding that she could not afford an IPS device to ease the situation.
According to the Met Office, mild and severe heat waves are sweeping over many regions in the country including Chittagong in recent times.
Asthma patient Badal Dutta, who suffered a heart attack a few days ago and is staying in his son’s house in Ghat Farhadbegh area, said the power cuts intensified his suffering.
Power outages are also affecting business badly. Business leaders said production in around 1,000 factories in the city was being hampered.
AM Mahbub Chowdhury, Senior Vice-president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CMCCI), said, “Factory owners are compelled to operate machines with generators although it is very costly.” He added, “Cost of electricity production through a generator is up to Tk 22 per unit whereas the owners pay Tk 7 per unit for PDB-supplied electricity.”
The officials of Power Development Board (PDB) said a gap between demand and supply led to such power cuts in this summer.
Chittagong Zone of PDB that covers the city, some parts of Patiya, Hathazari, and Shitakunda upazilas and Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban districts gets 12.1 percent of electricity of the total production of the country from the national grid, they said.
Contacted, Mohammad Manruzzaman, Senior Assistant Director (PR) of PDB, Chittagong, said from April 25 to April 30 the average daily demand of the port city was 978.66 megawatts (MW) of power while it got 801.66MW from the national grid.
So, there was a gap of 177MW of electricity on a daily basis. “We can supply as much power as we get from the national grid,” he said.
The business leaders demanded that the government increase the ratio of Chittagong’s share from the national grid.
Konka Chowdhury of Teri Bazar is one of the worst sufferers of the soaring temperature this summer as Chittagong city has been gripped by frequent power cuts for around a month.
“Although my family arranged an IPS (instant power supply) device for me, it cannot support for such a long time,” said the pregnant woman.
Like Konka, suffering of dwellers from every walk of life knows no bound.
Locals from different areas told this correspondent that they were experiencing power outage 10 to 12 times almost every day and do not get electricity for around 7 to 8 hours on an average.
“My two-year-old baby can’t sleep a bit due to severe heat,” said Rehnuma Khanam, a resident of Bibirhat, adding, “I can’t tolerate my baby’s suffering.”
Tickly Sarkar, a student of English at Chittagong College, who resides in Chawk Bazar DC Road area, said, “My honours final exams are going on but I can’t take preparation properly due to frequent outages.”
In the evening, her suffering doubled, she said.
Amid intolerable heat, it was not possible to concentrate on studies at daytime, she said, adding that she could not afford an IPS device to ease the situation.
According to the Met Office, mild and severe heat waves are sweeping over many regions in the country including Chittagong in recent times.
Asthma patient Badal Dutta, who suffered a heart attack a few days ago and is staying in his son’s house in Ghat Farhadbegh area, said the power cuts intensified his suffering.
Power outages are also affecting business badly. Business leaders said production in around 1,000 factories in the city was being hampered.
AM Mahbub Chowdhury, Senior Vice-president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CMCCI), said, “Factory owners are compelled to operate machines with generators although it is very costly.” He added, “Cost of electricity production through a generator is up to Tk 22 per unit whereas the owners pay Tk 7 per unit for PDB-supplied electricity.”
The officials of Power Development Board (PDB) said a gap between demand and supply led to such power cuts in this summer.
Chittagong Zone of PDB that covers the city, some parts of Patiya, Hathazari, and Shitakunda upazilas and Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban districts gets 12.1 percent of electricity of the total production of the country from the national grid, they said.
Contacted, Mohammad Manruzzaman, Senior Assistant Director (PR) of PDB, Chittagong, said from April 25 to April 30 the average daily demand of the port city was 978.66 megawatts (MW) of power while it got 801.66MW from the national grid.
So, there was a gap of 177MW of electricity on a daily basis. “We can supply as much power as we get from the national grid,” he said.
The business leaders demanded that the government increase the ratio of Chittagong’s share from the national grid.
