Residents of various areas of the capital Dhaka experienced prolonged load shedding on Wednesday night. Many residents reported power outages around midnight.
Some areas experienced load shedding for one and a half to two hours, while others remained without electricity for more than an hour. The prolonged power cuts caused considerable discomfort for Dhaka residents amid the humid and oppressive heat.
Residents said there was no electricity between 9:00 pm and 1:30 am in Bashundhara Residential Area, parts of Eskaton Garden, Kazipara, Mouchak, Karwan Bazar, Panthapath, West Rajabazar, Lalmatia and the Krishi Market area of Mohammadpur.
Prothom Alo correspondents reported load shedding from various areas around midnight. At around 11:00 pm, one reporter went to Shewrapara and found that his home had no electricity. Power was restored there about an hour later.
A resident of Mouchak said that although transformer problems usually occur in the area, electricity normally returns within five to 10 minutes. However, power had still not returned after nearly 50 minutes on Wednesday night.
Severe suffering amid intense heat
Anika Tasnim, a resident of Bashundhara Residential Area, said her neighbourhood experienced more than an hour of load shedding around midnight. She said she had never experienced such prolonged load shedding in Dhaka at midnight before.
Anika said, “Yet my electricity bill has doubled compared with before. The load shedding at midnight is causing serious problems with my sleep.”
Rahat Ahmed, a resident of Kazipara and a journalist at a private television channel, said Wednesday night saw the longest period of load shedding he had experienced in his area in the past three years.
He said, “It has become difficult to sleep because of the intense heat and mosquitoes.” He urged the government to reduce mismanagement in the power sector and restore comfort to people’s lives.
Residents of Karwan Bazar, Panthapath, West Rajabazar and the Krishi Market area of Mohammadpur also reported power outages at night.
However, the situation was not the same across the capital. A resident said electricity supply remained normal in Mirpur-11 and the Journalist Residential area until 12:30 am. He said there was no electricity in the Bihari Camp area when he returned home at around 10:30 pm.
Load Shedding increase across the country
Load shedding has increased across the country as the ongoing gas shortage has reduced electricity generation. The country has experienced peak load shedding of more than 3,000 megawatts for several days. The highest level of load shedding on Wednesday was 3,382 megawatts.
Data from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) and Power Grid Bangladesh PLC (PGCB) showed that peak load shedding stood at 3,671 megawatts last Sunday.
It increased to 3,757 megawatts on Monday, before falling to 3,465 megawatts on Tuesday and 3,382 megawatts on Wednesday.
Sources at the PDB and Rural Electrification Board (REB) said the country recorded total load shedding of 3,592 megawatts at midnight on 11 August. At the same time, REB areas experienced 3,034 megawatts of load shedding.
Meanwhile, gas supplies have also declined. The country received 2.03 billion cubic feet of gas yesterday, Wednesday against demand of 3.8 billion cubic feet. Due to adverse weather conditions at sea, gas supplies from Summit’s floating LNG terminal have fallen below 100 million cubic feet.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit told Prothom Alo on Wednesday that the gas supply shortage was disrupting electricity generation.
He said, “The government is making every possible effort to improve the power and gas situation.”