2 officials to be suspended over 4 Oct blackout: Nasrul

Two officials will be suspended in connection with the country-wide blackout of 4 October, said State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid.

"They will be suspended by today. Others involved will be found out within a week," the minister told journalists at the secretariat on Sunday (16 October) after receiving the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) investigation report.

"Three committees were originally formed to find out the cause of the grid disaster. Meanwhile, we have received the report of the investigation committee formed by PGCB. Through the report we come to know that PGCB has been negligent in fulfilling its duties. We have identified two officers among them. One of them is an assistant engineer and the other is a sub-assistant engineer. They will be temporarily suspended today," Nasrul Hamid added. 

On 4 October, Bangladesh suffered its worst blackout in 10 years owing to a "technical glitch". Parts of the country –  Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet – plunged into darkness as soon as dusk fell after the national grid tripped at 2:05pm – causing blackouts across Bangladesh, except some parts of the north.

Electricity began to trickle back around 6pm. The power supply was restored in some parts of Dhaka city under Maniknagar and Hasnabad grid substations and also a good number of districts under Sylhet, Chattagram and Mymensingh by 7 pm. By 10:30pm, electricity was back in all parts of the country.

The repercussions of the sudden disruption could be felt everywhere – readymade garment factories suspended production, Internet and mobile networks were interrupted, hospitals were in disarray, CNG sales were stopped at fuel pumps and water supply was dwindling.

Industrial production, including crucial readymade garments, were severely disrupted due to the blackout.

Radio frequency for mobile network operators and bandwidth internet services had been disrupted largely due to the long blackout.

Mobile phone users in different areas experienced call drops and slow internet speeds.

Following the incident, the PGCB formed a 5-member inquiry committee to investigate the reason behind the grid failure. Yakub Elahi Chowdhury, executive director of the organization, will lead the investigation, said its public relations officer Badruddoza Sumon.

The committee had three days to complete the investigation and submit its report. Referring to it, Nasrul Hamid said the Power Division is yet to receive the written probe report.

"However, we were informed that the grid failure was more of a management error," he added.