The government has decided to implement experimental load shedding in the capital Dhaka to ensure an uninterrupted irrigation system in the country’s agricultural sector and eliminate disparities between cities and villages, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit told parliament Thursday.
The initiative has been taken to ensure that farmers in villages are not harmed and that they receive adequate electricity, the state minister said while making a statement under Rule 300 in the National Parliament session on Thursday afternoon. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed presided over the session.
The state minister said that due to a decline in public trust, it will take some time for people to regain belief in statements from the government. However, he asserted that the current administration is committed to upholding the dignity of its oath and the transparency of parliament.
“The current electricity problem is not a problem of one day; rather, it is the result of the accumulated mismanagement of the previous fascist government,” Amit said.
He noted that although generation capacity is much higher on paper, there is a discrepancy with reality.
According to the state minister, the maximum electricity demand on Wednesday was nearly 16,000 megawatts, against which generation was possible at 14,126.35 megawatts. As a result, the government was forced to implement 2,086 megawatts of load shedding across the country.
With the crop harvesting season ongoing, the prime minister has given instructions to ensure an uninterrupted supply of diesel and electricity for farmers’ irrigation work, Amit said.
“To implement that directive and to uphold the spirit of a discrimination-free Bangladesh following the July uprising, the government has decided to initially implement experimental load shedding of 110 megawatts in the capital, Dhaka,” he added.
The state minister informed parliament that against a daily gas demand of 3,800 million cubic feet, a total of 2,636 million cubic feet is being supplied through domestic production and imports combined, leaving a daily shortfall of 1,164 million cubic feet.
Even though sufficient funds are available, it is not possible to rapidly increase gas imports due to a lack of necessary infrastructure, he said. However, he assured that work on developing this infrastructure will become visible under the government’s 180-day priority list.
Supply is also being disrupted because one imported power plant and one coal-based power plant are currently shut down for maintenance work, the state minister informed parliament.
Once these return to full production within the next few days, the load shedding situation will come down to a tolerable level within the next seven days, he said.
The state minister expressed sincere regret from the government for this temporary hardship to the people.
