Power outages in several Sylhet areas to last 13hrs as crisis worsens 

Authorities in Sylhet have decided to increase the duration of load-shedding to 10-13 hours daily in several areas in a bid to tackle the ongoing power crisis.

The government, amid the global energy crisis, had decided to carry out two hours of area-based load-shedding across the country.

On 18 July, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid announced that no load shedding will continue for more than an hour.

He had said that if the situation demands the duration of scheduled power outages will be increased to two hours.   

However, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Sales and Distribution Division-2 on Sunday published a new load-shedding schedule for Sylhet. 

As per the latest development, many Sylhet areas are to remain in the dark for a staggering 13 hours daily. 

BPDB provides electricity in Sylhet through five distribution points. New schedules have been issued for all of them with power cuts ranging from 10-13 hours.

Speaking with The Business Standard, Shams-e-Arefin, executive engineer of BPDB Sales and Distribution Division-2, said, "We are not being able to supply as per the people's needs. Only 33% of the total demand was met on Sunday. 

"This is why we had to increase the duration of power outages. The people are suffering a great deal due to this."

"The updated schedules, which is a preliminary one, have been published to notify consumers in advance. Load-shedding durations may increase or fall depending on supply," he added.

When contacted, BPDB Sylhet Division Chief Engineer Abdul Qadir said, "Not only the areas under the Sales and Distribution Division-2, in fact the whole of Sylhet is facing an acute electricity crisis. 

"Supply remains dry during day time due to the factories. The situation improves at night." 

"On Sunday afternoon, Sylhet district's power demand stood at 200MW but received a supply of just 90MW. This resulted in a disruption in the load-shedding schedules," he added.

Meanwhile, the villages in Sylhet are faring much worse than the cities. Rural consumers complained that they were getting power for only 4-5 hours a day.