Public anger over relentless load-shedding is erupting into street protests, with electricity offices coming under attack, roads being blocked and a power worker detained in several districts as the supply crisis worsens.
Customers have surrounded and attacked two Palli Bidyut offices in Dinajpur within 10 days, while a meter reader was detained for nearly four hours in Pabna.
In Sylhet, frustrated residents blocked roads demanding electricity, and in Gopalganj, distribution company WZPDCL has sought police protection for its offices, installations and employees.
In some rural areas, electricity is unavailable for 12 hours or more a day. In parts of Netrokona, outages stretch to 16-18 hours.
The growing unrest has prompted Palli Bidyut, which is responsible mainly for rural electricity distribution, to send another letter to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) requesting enhanced security at offices, substations and key installations of the country’s 80 Palli Bidyut Samiti.
The crisis stems from a sharp fall in power generation. Most gas-fired power plants remain shut because of fuel shortages, while the situation worsened after a fire at an LNG terminal. Coal shortages have added to the pressure.
Power generation, which reached about 17,000MW in May, has now fallen to between 12,000MW and 12,500MW. Load shedding has climbed close to 4,000MW.
During the May crisis, the government said that the situation would improve, but it has instead deteriorated. Supply remains relatively better in Dhaka and other major cities, leaving rural consumers to bear the brunt.
Dinajpur office came under attack
On 1 August night, consumers surrounded the Aftabganj Palli Bidyut area office in Dinajpur and staged a demonstration. Ten days later, protesters vandalised a Palli Bidyut office in Nawabganj upazila.
Even in the district town, power cuts occur around five times a day, while some areas remain without electricity for hours. In upazilas and villages, electricity is available for no more than 12–14 hours.
The rural shortfall is worse. Dinajpur Palli Bidyut Samity-1 has a peak demand of 170MW but at times receives only 80MW.
The shortage is hitting Dinajpur’s rice mills hard. Local businesspeople fear prolonged disruption could eventually affect both rice production and prices.
Meter reader detained
On Tuesday afternoon, meter reader Ainul Hossain was detained by residents at Alhaj Mor in Chargargari under Sahapur union of Ishwardi upazila.
Union Parishad member Rupban Khatun said the area was experiencing a power cut when Ainul arrived to take meter readings. Residents began questioning him and later detained him while contacting senior officials. He was released after nearly four hours.
“Load-shedding is not confined to this village; it is a national problem. Following instructions from senior officials, I stopped preparing the bills and left,” Ainul said.
Abdullah Al Amin Chowdhury, general manager of Pabna Palli Bidyut Samity-1, said demand at noon on Wednesday stood at 91MW against supply of 59MW.
Roads blocked in Sylhet
Residents frustrated by prolonged outages blocked roads at Khadimpara of Sylhet Sadar upazila and Tukerbazar in the city on Sunday night.
Nazmul Islam, a resident of the area, said the crisis was disrupting his job. “I need to remain connected to the internet all the time. But over the past few days, I have been getting electricity neither during the day nor at night.”
Extended outages became unbearable for the locals.
“We can be people from the hurricane-lamp era, but today’s children do not understand these things. They are suffering a lot,” said Lokman Ahmad, who owns a multi-storey building in Chandantula.
Food kept in a separate refrigerator for bachelor tenants had to be thrown away on Tuesday after it spoiled.
According to the electricity department, Sylhet district town is receiving 70–75 per cent of its demand, while supply to Palli Bidyut areas is lower.
Imam Hossain, chief Engineer of Power Development Board Sylhet, said senior authorities had repeatedly been informed and were examining possible measures.
Police protection
In Gopalganj, WZPDCL has written to the superintendent of police, fearing angry consumers could attack substations, offices and employees.
Superintendent of Police Md Habibullah said he had not yet received the letter but would take necessary measures once it arrived.
Executive Engineer Md Main Uddin informed that efforts were being made to ensure uninterrupted power for educational institutions during examinations and for hospitals, but some areas were facing hourly cuts to manage the deficit.
The impact is being felt across daily life and business.
“Modern concrete houses had made life without electricity increasingly difficult,” Moktar said Chowdhury of Gobra Chowdhury Para.
Computer shop owner Ujjal Biswas said his business was close to shutting down because customers often arrived during office hours only to find there was no electricity.
Without power for 18 hours
Netrokona has electricity demand of 150–152MW but is receiving less than half.
Palli Bidyut General Manager Akram Hossain said demand over the past two days was 130MW against supply of only 58MW while PDB Executive Engineer Md Sadekul Islam said his organisation was receiving 12-14MW against demand of 22MW.
Load-shedding is relatively lighter in district and upazila headquarters because hospitals, banks and government offices are located there.
“There is virtually no electricity at night. Altogether, we do not even get seven to eight hours in 24 hours,” said Angur Mia of Atpara.
In Netrokona town, Salah Uddin Khan Rubel said residents could not operate water pumps, sleep properly or ensure uninterrupted study for their children.
Rangpur plants running at half capacity
The Rangpur region is also facing severe shortages, with some of its six power plants producing nothing and others operating below capacity.
Installed capacity in the zone is 1,112MW, but peak generation last Sunday was only 556MW. Official load-shedding is close to 300MW against peak demand of about 1,200MW.
Even Rangpur city is seeing hourly outages. Small entrepreneur Bithika Roy said frequent cuts were making it impossible to run machinery consistently.
“If the electricity goes just after starting a machine, the work is ruined and raw materials are also damaged,” she said.
NESCO Supervising Engineer Ashraful Alam Mondal said, “We are supplying whatever we receive.”
Major plants offer little relief in Khulna
At least six of Khulna’s 10 power plants are shut, including the 330MW Khulna Power Plant, 50MW Faridpur Power Plant, 225MW North-West Power Plant, 100MW Madhumati Power Plant and 105MW Rupsha Power Plant.
Two plants at Rupsha are closed because of gas shortages. The government plans to bring gas from Bhola to restart them, but there is no certainty over when supplies will arrive.
Dacope, Batiaghata, Dumuria and Koyra are among the worst-hit areas.
Trader Ram Prasad said fish, meat and other refrigerated goods were spoiling, while businesses were losing money.
Nure Alam, an employee of a private organisation in Dacope, said electricity was going several times during the day and five to six times at night.
WZPDCL Managing Director Zakiruzzaman said the company was regularly meeting businesspeople and urging them to reduce electricity wastage.
Khulna Palli Bidyut Samity General Manager Tushar Kanti Mondal, however, said peak demand in his jurisdiction was 85MW and the shortfall was only around 10 per cent.
Abdus Salam from Dinajpur, Shahin Rahman from Pabna, Ahmed Jamil from Sylhet, Chowdhury Hasan Mahmud from Gopalganj and Bhajan Das from Netrokona contributed to this report.
