Energy Bangla

Energy electricity and environment news portal

Dhaka Thursday,  Mar 28, 2024

45k Rural REB Customers Still Lack Electricity Due To Flood

EB Report

Around 45 thousands customers of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB or REB) are still out of total power services as devastating flood affected them heavily. At least 2 lac customers of the REB were directly affected by this ongoing flood that has already submerged many parts of the country.

According to the sources of REB, so far, the flood has damaged 1,300 transformers, 3,000 pillars, 14,000 meters of electric cable which has incurred a total loss of about 2 crore BDT for REB.

However, REB is already electrifying back the rural areas where flood water has started to decline said the REB sources. Some areas are still submerged by flood water and considered unsafe to be electrified and therefore, the power supply is kept down in those areas. Sources claimed that, damaged meters, transformers and pillars are replaced or repaired by the REB officials upon customer request but the process is hindered due to the bad communication system in the affected areas.

The recent flood has heavily damaged the power distribution system of around 17-18 districts including Dinajpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and caused a power outage for about 1 week in those areas.

Major General Moeen Uddin, the chairman of REB said that, the recent flood has directly affected at least 2 lacs and 22 thousands customers of REB under different Palli Bidyut Samiti (PBS). The connections are revitalizing gradually as the flood scenario is improving. All the damaged connections will be reinitiated once the flood water is wiped out. He added that, REB has informed the information ministry about the damages and losses that incurred in the flood at the very beginning of the flood situation.

Meanwhile, a high official of Dinajpur PBS-1 said that, they have 2 lac and 70 thousands of customers and among them, 4 thousands of the customers have reported having damaged electric meters due to the flood. Fortunately, most of them are repaired or replaced and rest are waiting to be fixed upon request. He informed that, the affected pillars are also being fixed in many areas and other refitment processes are going on also.

Many customers of the North-West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited of Dinajpur were also out of power service due to the flood.

However, the general manager of Dinajpur PBS-2 said that, luckily the service area under PBS-2 is not affected by the flood except for a single pillar which is already being repaired too.

Comment here