Dhaka has been brought into the load-shedding cycle as the government seeks to reduce prolonged power cuts in other parts of the country amid a gas supply crisis that has hit electricity generation.
Power Grid data showed around 500MW of load-shedding in the capital during the peak evening period at around 9pm on Wednesday.
Residents in several areas reported outages after 9pm, with some experiencing cuts lasting an hour or more.
Bithi Akhter of Mohammadpur said electricity supply in her area remained disrupted from around 10pm until about 2am.
“We couldn’t sleep properly because of the hot weather. I have never experienced load-shedding in the capital for such a long time,” she said.
Residents of Bashundhara Residential Area also reported an outage of about an hour around 10pm. Parts of Eskaton Garden, Mouchak, Lalmatia, Karwan Bazar, Panthapath, Kazipara and Mohammadpur’s Agricultural Market area also faced outages between 9pm and 1:30am.
Zahurul Islam, member (planning) of the Bangladesh Power Development Board, confirmed the introduction of load-shedding in Dhaka.
The move is aimed at reducing the duration of outages outside the capital as authorities struggle to distribute limited electricity amid a nationwide gas crisis.
The shortage has pushed nationwide load-shedding above 3,000MW for several consecutive days. BPDB and Power Grid data showed peak load-shedding of 3,671MW on Sunday, 3,757MW on Monday, 3,465MW on Tuesday and 3,382MW on Wednesday.
Disruptions at the two LNG terminals at Moheshkhali have reduced gas supplies to power plants, affecting electricity generation.
The prolonged outages triggered public anger in several districts, with Rural Electrification Board officials seeking police protection amid protests and vandalism.
Following Dhaka’s inclusion in the load-shedding cycle, several areas outside the capital reported improved power supply.
Abdullah Al Amin Chowdhury, general manager of Pabna Palli Bidyut Samity-1, said supply had returned to normal since Thursday morning.
“There is no load-shedding. The demand for power on Thursday was 69MW, and 69MW were available,” he told TIMES of Bangladesh.
Sajik Chakraborty of Bonthor village in Chatmohar said there had been no load-shedding in his area until Thursday afternoon.
The improvement came after several days of severe outages in Pabna. On Tuesday, angry locals detained a meter reader for around four hours at Sahapur Union in Ishwardi over load-shedding.
Rajshahi also reported normal supply. Nesco Chief Engineer (Operations) Ziaul Islam said there was no load-shedding in the division on Thursday.
“Whatever is demanded is being supplied,” he said, adding that the division’s demand and supply were both 486MW, while Rajshahi city’s demand and supply stood at 118MW.
Dinajpur Rural Electricity Association-1 also reported normal supply since Wednesday evening.
The improvement followed a rise in gas availability. Zahurul Islam said Petrobangla was supplying around 960 million cubic feet of gas per day to power plants.
Authorities, however, continue to struggle with generation shortages as public anger grows over prolonged outages. On 1 August, residents surrounded the Aftabganj Rural Electricity Area Office, while customers vandalised the Rural Electricity Office in Nawabganj on 11 August.
The decision to introduce load-shedding in Dhaka has shifted part of the power shortage burden to the capital after rural areas bore the brunt of the crisis for days.
Correspondents from respective districts have contributed to this report.
