Power cuts have added to the unbearable hot weather scorching the people in Bangladesh.
With no sign of relief from the oppressive weather this week, power officials say at least 10 plants are not feeding electricity due to reasons such as maintenance work.
It will take three to four more days for the situation to improve, they say.
A heatwave has been sweeping over the country for several days. The temperature in Dhaka was 36.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. The highest temperature of 37.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in Jessore.
Moreover, the country is experiencing power cuts for some days due to an increased demand because of the hot weather.
The areas in the capital Dhaka are experiencing at least three to four power cuts a day.
The situation is worse outside Dhaka. The districts have to make do without power most of the day.
State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid has offered apologies for the situation.
Speaking to journalists at the Secretariat on Monday, he cited the disruption in power generation at 10 plants for maintenance works, broken or uprooted poles in storm, and lack of gas to produce electricity as the reasons behind the power outages.
“The power stations under maintenance now will be back in operation within four days. The situation will get almost normal in the Ramadan,” he said.
The power plants in Bangladesh produced 7,200MW in daytime and 8,483MW in the evening against a demand of a little over 9000MW on Sunday.
According to Saiful Islam, a director at the Power Division, the 340MW Bibiyana Power Plant, 450MW Meghnaghat Power Plant, ‘some’ units of Ashuganj Power Plant, and 225MW Sirajganj Power Plant were undergoing improvement works.
He said the authorities were conducting the maintenance now to avoid possible breakdown due to growing demand during Ramadan.
bdnews24.com’s Sherpur Correspondent said the authorities announced that there would be no power in the district from early in the morning to 6pm on Tuesday for setting up 132KV lines from Tangail to Mymensingh.
The state minister held a meeting at Bidyut Bhaban earlier on Monday to discuss the situation.
He asked them to coordinate properly in distributing power and inform the people beforehand about power cuts.
Two joint secretaries have been tasked with monitoring the maintenance and distribution. They are Sheikh Foyzul Amin and AKM Humayun Kabir.