2 officials suspended over 4 Oct blackout

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) has released the names of its two officials suspended by the government for their negligence of duty that led to the nationwide grid failure on 4 October.

According to the PGCB public relations department, the suspended officials are – Allama Hasan Bakhtiar, sub-divisional engineer (SPMD, Dhaka-1) and Md Mostafizur Rahman, assistant engineer (SPMD, Dhaka-1), reports the UNB.

Earlier, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that two engineers of the PGCB will be suspended over the recent national grid failure.

"The decision will come into effect today (Sunday)," he told reporters at the secretariat yesterday after receiving the probe report on the incident.

Action has been taken against an assistant engineer and a sub assistant engineer of PGCB on charge of negligence of duty, the state minister said earlier.

"Action will be taken against others responsible for the incident by this week after identifying them," he said.

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.

Following the incident, the PGCB formed a 7-member inquiry committee to investigate the reason behind the grid failure and file the report within three days.