Meherpur Faces 5-6 Hours of Daily Power Cuts

Residents across Meherpur are struggling with prolonged power outages as scorching temperatures and frequent load shedding continue to disrupt daily life. While urban areas receive relatively better electricity service, many rural communities are without power for five to six hours a day.

The ongoing outages are affecting households, HSC examinees, factories, and farmers who rely on electricity for irrigation.

The Meherpur Rural Electrification Office said it cannot predict when the situation will improve.

According to the office, the district’s three upazilas have a total of 196,159 electricity consumers. Of them, 177,988 are residential customers, 9,702 are commercial users, 2,175 have industrial connections, and 3,423 operate irrigation pumps. Another 2,871 fall under other customer categories.

To provide uninterrupted electricity, the district requires 72 megawatts of power.

During off-peak hours, from midnight to 5 pm, the demand stands at 55 megawatts, but only 40 megawatts are supplied, leaving a shortfall of 15 megawatts.

During peak hours, from 6 pm to midnight, demand rises to 62 megawatts while supply reaches only 41 megawatts, creating a deficit of 21 megawatts.

Officials estimate the power shortfall at about 27 percent during off-peak hours and between 30 and 34 percent during peak demand.

Residents, however, say the actual situation is worse than the official figures suggest. They claim electricity remains unavailable for five to six hours daily and allege that rural areas receive significantly less electricity than towns.

Farmer Rafiqul Islam of Jhaobaria village in Meherpur Sadar Upazila said insufficient rainfall has forced farmers to irrigate paddy and jute fields. He said power cuts interrupt irrigation three to four times while watering a single bigha of land, increasing electricity costs.

The outages are also affecting students preparing for the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations.

Mila Akter said she struggles to study because electricity is unavailable for much of the night.

College student Nusrat Jaman of Bhatpara village said studying becomes difficult after sunset due to repeated outages. She fears she will not be able to complete her syllabus unless electricity service improves soon.

Healthcare services have also been affected. Meherpur has four government hospitals, including Meherpur General Hospital, and nearly 50 private clinics. None of the hospitals has a backup generator, leaving patients and their families to suffer whenever electricity is cut.

Swadesh Kumar Ghosh, deputy general manager of the Meherpur Rural Electrification Association, told Agamir Somoy that the district is not receiving the electricity it needs.

“Meherpur is experiencing an average of 30 to 34 percent load shedding every day. We cannot say when the problem will be resolved,” he said.

Meherpur Deputy Commissioner Shilpi Rani said electricity is being supplied through rotational load management across the district. She added that normal service will resume once problems with the national power grid are resolved.