Frequent power outages amid intense heat are disrupting agriculture, industries and businesses across northern districts, pushing up operating costs and raising concerns over crop production.
Electricity shortages have forced farmers to rely more on diesel-powered irrigation pumps, increasing cultivation costs. At the same time, small businesses and industries are facing production delays due to unreliable power supply.
Welding shops, carpentry units, mechanical workshops, photocopy and printing centres, salons, restaurants and tailoring businesses are among the affected sectors.
Former president of the Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Masudur Rahman Rinku told TIMES of Bangladesh that the exact amount of financial losses could not yet be determined.
“Production costs had already increased due to higher electricity and gas prices. Overall, costs in business, trade and industrial sectors have increased by around 20 per cent,” he said.
Rajshahi businessman Md Sagar said business activities come to a halt during power cuts.
“We suffer losses as we cannot operate online transactions, computers and other equipment,” he said.
Apart from losing production and sales hours, businesses are also facing pressure from delayed deliveries and reduced working hours. Many households and businesses using IPS systems are struggling as frequent outages prevent batteries from charging fully.
In Rajshahi, areas including Paba, Puthia, Durgapur, Charghat, Bagha, Godagari, Tanore and Mohonpur depend heavily on electricity for agricultural activities.
Paba farmer Ujjwal Ali said he was unable to operate irrigation pumps due to power shortages.
“If water cannot be supplied on time, crops will be damaged,” he said.
Poultry farmers in Natore are also facing difficulties as they have to use generators to run fans, increasing fuel expenses and production costs. In some areas of Binodpur in Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj, residents claimed they receive electricity for only five to six hours a day.
Naogaon, a major agricultural and industrial district, has more than 700 rice mills, along with food processing, agricultural machinery, plastics and light engineering industries. Many of these businesses are now struggling with irregular power supply.
At Ghosh Automatic Rice Mill in Sultanpur area, electricity remained unavailable for around four hours between Wednesday noon and Thursday 11am.
Owner Dwijen Ghosh said generator use had increased expenses.
“Diesel is needed to run generators. This has increased costs. To reduce diesel expenses, we sometimes have to keep the factory closed,” he said.
Saiful Islam, manager of Nasim Brothers Automatic Rice Mill at BSCIC Industrial Estate, said production had fallen by around 30 per cent due to the power crisis.
Cloth trader Saiful Islam of Dhamoirhat said generator charges for traders had doubled.
“Although traders had an agreement to pay Tk500 per month for generator use, they are now being asked to pay Tk1,000 due to the current situation,” he said.
Firoz Hossain, operator of a deep tube well under the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority in Niamatpur, warned that prolonged power shortages could threaten paddy cultivation.
“If the electricity situation continues like this, it will become difficult to save the paddy crop,” he said.
Due to inadequate rainfall, Aman paddy fields require irrigation. Farmers said irrigation work that previously took two hours now requires three to four hours because of load-shedding.
According to the Power Division, Naogaon’s daily electricity demand is around 95MW, while supply remains between 60 and 70MW.
The situation is also severe in Jhenaidah, where residents reported 13 to 14 hours of load-shedding a day on average.
Mahmudur Rahman, a resident of Arappur area, said, “Load-shedding has crossed all limits over the past week. Electricity stays for one hour and then remains unavailable for one and a half to two hours.”
Farmers in the district are also worried. Abdul Mannan of Shalia village said he could not irrigate his crop fields.
“If this continues, farming will suffer huge losses,” he said.
Mehedi Hasan of Kashimpur village said most electric irrigation pumps had stopped operating.
“Even when electricity is available, voltage fluctuations create fears that motors may burn out,” he said.
Shahzahan Nobin from Jhenaidah also contributed to this story.
