Industrial production, daily life disrupted in Savar, Gazipur as load shedding hits 45%
Masud Chowdhury, owner of Sadar Tannery in the leather sector, said, "We are experiencing 4-5 hours of load shedding. Production costs have increased by up to 20% as we are forced to run on generators"
Residents of Savar, Ashulia, Dhamrai, and Kaliakair in Gazipur, have been enduring severe disruptions due to prolonged power outages over the past few days.
The excessive load shedding is also significantly hampering production in the industrial factories of the region.
Sources from Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity report that due to a considerable shortage in power supply, load shedding in the region reached as high as 45% today (9 September).
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"This afternoon, the demand in our service area reached 313 megawatts, but the supply was only 170 megawatts," Molla Md Abul Kalam Azad, senior general manager of Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity-3, told The Business Standard.
Palli Bidyut Samity-3 serves more than 500,000 customers.
Presently, the Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity-1 can provide electricity for only 10-12 hours a day, said sources.
Palli Bidyut Samity-1 sources said they have been facing load shedding for the past week, with the situation worsening over the last 3-4 days.
"Our demand was 425 megawatts this afternoon, but we received only 306 megawatts," Md Mashfikul Hasan, senior general manager of Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity-1, said, pointing out the severe shortage in power supply.
He also mentioned that the extent of load shedding sometimes increases further.
The Palli Bidyut Samity-1 serves over 700,000 customers, including 625,000 residential clients.
Production cost surges as factories run on generators
Amid the acute shortage of power supply, factories in the affected industrial areas are being forced to keep production up with generators, resulting in increased costs.
"We don't have power for half of the day. We are forced to continue production using generators," RAK Liton, company secretary of Fashion Globe Group, a garment industry firm, told The Business Standard.
"Running production on generators has increased our costs by several times," he added.
Masud Chowdhury, owner of Sadar Tannery in the leather sector, said, "We are experiencing 4-5 hours of load shedding. Production costs have increased by up to 20% as we are forced to run on generators.'"
Shamima Akhter, a Savar resident, shared her frustration, saying, "We face load shedding for an average of 10 to 12 hours a day. The extreme heat, combined with the power cuts, is severely affecting the children's studies."
"Once the power goes out, it doesn't return for at least two hours. This is happening throughout the day," she added.
Shamsuzzoha Mithu, a resident of the Ashulia Palli Bidyut area, said, "When we have electricity, it often lasts only an hour before going out again. On average, we're without power for half the day, and load shedding persists late into the night."
He also mentioned that this situation has persisted for the past week.
