Country’s people have been experiencing severe power crisis for the last eight days due to mismanagement in power distribution, Power Development Board sources said.
Country’s power consumption is about 8000MW to 8500 MW while its generation capacity ranges between 15000MW and 16000 MW.
“So, there is no reason why people will experience load-shedding. It’s a total mismanagement,” an official preferring not to be named said yesterday.
As a result people specially the city dwellers are facing the worst situation. Besides, businesses are bearing the brunt of the frequent load-shedding, as their industrial output is being severely hampered.
Backup power systems in industries, offices and houses, like – instant power supply (IPS) and uninterrupted power system (UPS), are also failing to provide electricity in absence of enough electricity supply from the national grid. It is happening, as those equipments are not getting required electricity to charge up batteries, consumers alleged.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Monday said power situation will improve within five days.
“It’s an unexpected disruption of power supply due to the collapse of Ashuganj-Sirajganj tower having 400-kv capacity for south-western and northern areas of the country by rough weather,” he told newsmen at a briefing at his Secretariat office.
The state minister said they are working to repair the tower, which would require 6-7 months’ time by engaging the foreign technicians.
The government is supplying electricity across around 350 rivers, so natural disaster can take place any time, he said.
Replying to a question, he assured people of no electricity crisis during the Ramzan.
“We will be in a better position during the holy month,” he asserted He said large scale power plants are yet to be put into operation. “We need three more years for uninterrupted power supply,” Nasrul said adding, “eight power plants with 1,886 MW capacity are now under overhauling and some of them would go for operation within 3-4 days.”
He said the government has been working to change some 2.50 lakh transmitters across the country aimed at increasing capacity of power supply.
President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) urged the government to build necessary distribution and transmission infrastructure as soon as possible to distribute electricity in line with the production capacity.
“The country has sufficient power production. We do not have ample distribution networks that are consistent with the generation capacity. The government took initiatives in this regard, and I hope the problem will be solved very soon,” he added.
However, Sunday’s overall electricity generation across the country was around 8,244 megawatts (MW) against the accumulated installed capacity of 13,179 MW of all power plants, according to the state-run Power Development Board (BPDB) statistics.
Technical glitches accounted for around 1,965 MW of electricity load-shedding, while gas supply constraints accounted for around 776 MW, PDB showed.
According to PDB posted on its website, there was no load-shedding of electricity on Sunday.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Md Siddiqur Rahman said low power generation against increased consumption in the summer raises readymade garments (RMG) production cost.
He said many RMG manufacturers in the country have resorted to diesel-run power generators, while power cuts have added to their woes.
“Factories located in Ashulia, Savar, Gazipur, Rupganj and Narayanganj are suffering at least four hours of power cut daily.”
Seeking policy support from the government, the BGMEA president said the country’s clothing industry is focusing on employment generation and achieving $ 50 billion export target by 2021.
“If power generation does not meet the industry demand, it will be impossible to attain the target,” he further said.
Mohiuddin Mahmud Mahin, President of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLLFEA) said they sat with the electricity department officials for ensuring continuous power generation in Savar tannery estate.
The city dwellers alleged that they are experiencing load-shedding sometimes for several hours at a stretch.
People residing in Gulshan, Baridhara, Mirpur, Uttara, Old Dhaka, Rampura, Bansri, Shewrapara, Kazipara, Khilgaon, Goran, Jatrabari, Dania, Matuail and Demra areas are the worst affected of the electricity outages, alleged some residents.
The frequent load-shedding is posing a threat to the government’s commitment of keeping ‘iftar, tarabi and sehri’ timings load-shedding-free in the ensuing Ramadan.
A senior official of state-owned Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC) said the ever-increasing load sanctions in industries, commercial entities and households are creating extra pressure on the age-old transmission systems, resulting in electricity supply failure.
A director of PDB said electricity supply to the extent of around 300-350 MW is being hampered in some northern districts due to damage of the 230 KV (kilo volt) power transmission tower at Bhairab in early this month.
