National grid failure triggers blackout across 21 southern districts

Twenty-one districts in the southern region of the country have been suffering from power outages due to failure of the national grid.

Power supply was cut off from 5:48pm today, Saturday.

As a result, 21 districts of Khulna and Barisal have been experiencing a ‘blackout’. Khulna city was still without electricity at the time of filing this report at around 7:45pm.

Mohammad Haider Ali, Managing Director of West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL), said that the blackout occurred due to a problem in the national grid in Amin Bazar in Gopalganj.

However, the situation is gradually improving and electricity is being distributed to different districts. It will take some more time to resolve the problem.

WZPDCL distributes power in 21 districts of the southern region of the country.

WZPDCL officials said that the connection of Amin Bazar in Gopalganj to the national grid has made the power supply in the southwestern region more reliable.

It is an important transmission centre for electricity generated from the Rampal and Payra thermal power plants. The problem is believed to have occurred due to a sudden increase of load due to heat.