'Will collapse any moment': NSU teachers, students raise concern after long power outage hit country's largest private uni

Electricity returned to North South University (NSU), the largest private university in the country, at 2:00pm after it was plunged into darkness since morning today amid the ongoing severe heat wave.

Air conditioning, lights and lifts were off since morning as students showed up to the university, many for their semester final presentations on Monday (5 June).

Some faculty members and students said a few people had fallen ill amid the sweltering heat. 

"I will collapse at any moment," a faculty of the university told this newspaper under the condition of anonymity.

A student, who also did not want to be named, said the normally air-conditioned rooms did not allow for much fresh air to circulate, making it difficult to stay in classes with little ventilation.

The electricity crisis has been plaguing the university, like all other buildings, for a while.

On 31 May, an email from Cdr M Zahid Hossain (Retd), director of operations and maintenance at NSU, read, "Please be informed that due to DESCO power outage and low gas pressure, at present, we are not able to run Central Air Condition. Once DESCO power supply is available/ gas pressure increases, we will run Central AC. All are requested to bear with this situation please."

Contacted, DESCO Managing Director Engineer Kausar Ameer Ali said,  "The power demand is 1,300MW in the Dhaka North and Tongi areas, but there is a 306MW supply deficit. With this, we are trying to supply all the areas and had to schedule load-shedding area-wise."

Asked when the situation would improve, he said, "No notice has been sent to us from the power ministry on how long this will continue, but the minister said it would improve in two weeks."