Rural areas see up to 10-hour loadshedding

Rural Electrification Board (REB) is getting 30 per cent less electricity than demand in almost every village of the country. In many areas, the supply is half the demand, resulting in acute power crisis. Some areas even see 10 hours of load shedding every day.

REB was supplied 6,798 megawatts (MW) on Saturday while the demand was 9,565 MW. This was 440MW less than the same day of previous year. On Sunday, REB received 6,714 MW comparing to demand of 9417MW. This was 636 MW less than the same day in last year.

Power sector sources said, the government started to enforce planned load shedding in the country since last July to save energy resulting from dollar-crisis. The situation did not improve much despite assurance from the government. The load shedding situation exacerbated last year, but improved somewhat in winter. Now the country is undergoing even worse load shedding then last year. Only rain can improve the situation. Experts blame export dependent policy in the energy sector for the current crisis.

Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) distribute power in the capital. The officials of these two organisations said load shedding had to be done at least three times in most of the areas in the city on Monday. These two organizations did around 600MW loadshedding yesterday.

West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDCL), Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO) and Power Development Board (PDB) supply electricity in city corporation and pourashava areas outside the capital city. PDB supplies power to villages of some districts. In total, 55 per cent consumers get electricity supply from REB.  Some rural areas of Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Cumilla and Rajshahi are even suffering from load shedding up to 12 hours a day. Parts of Chattogram, Rangpur, Sylhet and Barishal are experiencing four to five hours of load shedding.

REB did highest load shedding of 2703 MW in the country on Sunday.

NESCO supplies electricity in city areas in northern region. Md Kamal, executive engineer of Dinajpur NESCO division-2, told Prothom Alo that his he was supplied 12-14 MW electricity against the demand of 30 MW.

NESCO-2’s switch board attendant Faruque Ahmed told Prothom Alo that Dinajpur’s Ganeshtala area experienced 9 hours of load shedding in 24 hours from Sunday noon to Monday noon.

Bogura received 50 MW against the demand of 110MW, resulting in over 12 hours of load shedding.

NESCO Bogura zone superintending engineer (acting) Hasibur Rahman said the area under its jurisdiction is receiving half the demand.

REB supplies electricity to most of the districts by Palli Bidyut Samity. Some districts have more than one such association. The associations that are supplied half the demand are forced to carry out load shedding over 12 hours.

Palli Bidyut Samity has highest consumers in Kushtia. It had to do 51.96 per cent loadshedding at 1:00pm yesterday and 50.4 per cent at 12 noon. Officials of the samity said they have to do loadshedding of 12 hours on average.

Kushtia Palli Bidyut Samity’s general manager SM Nasir Uddin told Prothom Alo that it receives half the demand every hour.

Gazipur Palli Bidyut Samity had 462 MW daily demand but it get s 220-230 MW. Jahidul Islam, deputy general manager (technical) of Gazipur Palli Bidyut Samity-1, told Prothom Alo that it had 39 per cent load shedding till Monday afternoon.

Dinajpur Palli Bidyut Samity-1 said it now receives 60-65MW daily against 110MW supply.

Md Zillur Rahman, general manager of Khulna Palli Bidyut Samity-1, told Prothom Alo that they got 30 per cent deficit in supply, which sometimes increases.

WZPDCL’s executive director Md Shamsul Alam said shortage in 21 district towns and 20 upazilas was 158MW.

In Rajshahi, excessive load shedding coupled with the heat wave makes people’s lives miserable.

Azizul Islam of Nowpara village under Durgapur upazila in Rajshahi said his area sees over 12 hours of load shedding.

Rajshahi Palli Bidyut Samity’s general manager Ramen Chandra Roy said shortage in his area is up to 50 per cent.

The temperature has been fluctuating between 40 and 41 degree Celsius in Dinajpur over the last week. Asmaul Husna, from Bansherhat village of Sadar upazila, said load shedding lasts for an hour or one-and-a-half hours and load shedding occurs at least 10-12 times a day. Homemaker Champa Banu, from Jaleshwaritala of Bogura town, shared similar experience. She said load shedding is racing with hot weather.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Aminul Islam, director of Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital, Gazipur, said condition of patients has worsen at the hospital and they are mulling to decrease the number of surgeries.

Load shedding has become unbearable in rural area of Khulna region over the last week with power outage hitting some places for 6-13 hours daily. Urban area see less power outage. Mim Akhter, from ward 31 of Khulna city, said power outage hits six times from Sunday evening to Monday midday.

Shamim Ahmed, from Rifatpur village of Balaganj upazila, Sylhet, said load sheading occurs at nigh routinely, but it has turned intolerable during day.

Sylhet Palli Bidyut Samity-1 general manager Md Akteruzzaman Lashkar said there was a supply of 76mw of electricity against a demand of 104mw. Sylhet Palli Bidyut Samity-2 general manager Sanjib Kumar Roy said load shedding was 35.71 per cent on Monday morning.

Shrimp exporters from Khulna said shrimp is a perishable product and production dropped due to shortage of electricity. Trust Sea Foods Limited managing director AKM Fazlul Haque told Prothom Alo if electricity stays for an hour, load shedding occurs for two hours, and they need 1,200 liters of diesel at a cost of over Tk 125,000 daily.

Shahinuzzaman, deputy managing director of Golden Auto Rice Mill in Ailchara area of Kushtia’s Sadar upazila, said power crisis halved their rice production.

There are over 400 knitting factories, 215 apparel factories and seven dying factories in the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industry Corporation (BSCIC) Ponchoboti BSCIC industrial area in Narayanganj. These knitting factories run on electricity entirely and are linked to export. Since ninety-five percent of these factories do not have electricity, production fell by 40 per cent, according to factory sources.

The state-run lone power transmission company Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) said there has been a rise in load shedding over the past week. Highest 3,215mw of load shedding occurred on Sunday night and highest 2,815mw of load shedding happened during daytime on Monday. Data of the last week show maximum three hours of load shedding occurs after midnight.

Added to this, coal shortage prompted a complete shutdown of the country’s biggest power station Payra thermal power plant on 5 June, Monday. The shutdown reduced power generation by 600mw on Monday. Though Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is trying to increase power generation, there is no sign of it. Shortage of fuel hampers power production despite having the capacity. Once daily power generation reached a record 15,648mw, but it has been difficult to produce 14,000mw now, resulting in an increased gap between demand and supply. So, six power distribution companies of the country are doing load shedding for hour after hour to meet the power deficit.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, former special assistant on energy to the chief advisor of the caretaker government M Tamim said assurance was given last year on overcoming power crisis based on the nature and the start of power generation at Adani and Rampal power plants. But, power did not come from these two plant in time. Winter saved the country from the crisis.

This time, the government is also giving assurance to increase power supply, and it may meet the power deficit caused by shutdown of Payra plant, but load shedding would not decrease. There is no way other than depending on the Mother Nature once again, he added.

Prothom Alo Correspondents from respective area contributed to this report.

This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Galib Ashraf and Hasanul Banna