Dhaka to face load-shedding: state minister

The government has decided to introduce 110 megawatts of load-shedding in the capital Dhaka on a trial basis. State Minister for Power and Energy Anindya Islam disclosed the decision in a statement under Rule 300 in the National Parliament on Thursday.

The state minister blamed mismanagement during the tenure of the Awami League government and a shortage of adequate fuel supply for the ongoing power crisis. Expressing regret over the public suffering caused by load-shedding, he said, “The current load-shedding of around 2,000 megawatts will decrease within the next seven days.”

Highlighting ongoing efforts to ensure uninterrupted power supply, he said, “Due to insufficient fuel supply, load-shedding is occurring in some areas. To bring this to a tolerable level, the government, on the Prime Minister’s advice and following discussions with the opposition leader, has decided to introduce an initial 110 megawatts of load-shedding in Dhaka on a trial basis.”

“We do not think it is acceptable for city dwellers to remain comfortable while rural people, especially working farmers, suffer. The spirit of the July uprising was a discrimination-free Bangladesh, meaning there should be no disparity between urban and rural areas. To eliminate that disparity, the government has decided to introduce load-shedding in cities as well, so that farmers can get adequate electricity for irrigation,” he added.

The state minister noted that although power generation capacity appears high on paper, there is a mismatch with reality. “Yesterday, peak electricity demand was around 16,000 megawatts, while actual generation reached 14,126.35 megawatts. This forced authorities to implement load-shedding of 2,086 megawatts,” he said.

Addressing questions over why power plants are failing to generate despite capacity, he said, “The country’s daily gas demand is 3,800 million cubic feet. Currently, production stands at 1,686 million cubic feet per day, while average daily imports are 950 million cubic feet. Despite capacity, there is no immediate scope to increase gas imports, as the necessary infrastructure cannot be expanded overnight. Visible progress will be seen within the government’s 180-day priority plan to expand this infrastructure.”