Citizens groan under frequent loadshedding

---

Afroza Parveen, an official from a private firm, went to Shewrapara to buy two charger fans and a few charger torches.
She already has an Instant Power Supply (IPS), which she had earlier bought due to irregular electricity. But since load shedding is very frequent, the IPS cannot recharge itself fully after each load-shedding period, reports bdnews24.com.
Younus Rahman who was in the shop at the same time to buy an IPS. He said that it was quite impossible to work during the day as he could not sleep well at night due to constant power interruption.
Zainal Abedin, owner of Madina Electronics said he had sold around 350 charger fans last month, and even more torches.
In Tejgaon, Iqbal Ashraf was looking to buy charger lights. He has two IPSs at home - but even they are unable to provide sufficient lights for his daughter who is studying for her HSC exams.
An electronics goods shop in the area sold over 100 IPSs in March.
The power crisis is particularly effecting Mirpur, Badda, Mohammadpur, Basabo, Jatrabari and Old Dhaka.
Sarwar Alam from Mirpur Shah Ali Bagh area said the loadshedding was supposed to continue for two hours, but it often went on for much longer.
"The power is often absent for as long as four hours and sometimes it is only comes back for one and half hours."
Power Development Board chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir said he "could not deny" there was a significant gap in supply of electricity.
"Many of the plants can't be operated due to gas crisis. So we have to manage the gap with load management, which is implemented through load-shedding."
He said process is underway to increase power generation by diverting gas from several fertiliser factories.
"The situation might also improve if the consumers give up some of their luxuries," Kabir added.
Power generation on Sunday evening stood at 3970MW against a peak demand of 5300MW. However, generation of 210MW was reduced on Monday noon as the unit at the Ghorashal plant caught fire.
Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), which covers Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Dhaka (South) and Narayanganj, had a demand of 1200MW, against which it got only 633MW on Sunday.
Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO) covers Mirpur, Shyamoli, Gulshan, Badda, Dhaka (North) and Tongi areas. Against a daily demand of around 585MW in these areas, average supply is 260MW only.
Saleh Ahmed, DECSO managing director, noted that "The gas-based industries are currently using electricity due to gas shortage, which is putting further pressure on power consumption," he said.
DPDC managing director Ataul Masud said that there was no concrete solution to this problem until gas supplies increase.
An FE Report adds: The mobile courts deployed by the government in the city Tuesday cut off more than 200 unauthorised electricity connections on the first of their drive, top government officials said.
The government deployed the mobile courts in a bid to ensure better power supply to other legitimate consumers.
"We've deployed three mobile teams in areas under our jurisdiction to detect unauthorised electricity connections and snap those," Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) Managing Director Ataul Masud told the FE on the day.
The teams were deployed on a directive from the power ministry in this connection in the morning, he said.
The power ministry has suspended any new connections from early this month to cope with the short supply as the country is reeling under the highest ever power shortfall.
The overall electricity generation is hovering around 3800 megawatts against the demand for around 6000 mw.
In Dhaka the electricity supply is around 1440 mw against the demand for 1930 mw, in Chittagong it is around 376 mw against the demand for over 520 mw and in Khulna 179 mw against the demand for 480 mw.
In Rajshahi the supply is 263 mw against the demand for 480 mw, in Mymensingh 126 mw against 250 mw, in Barisal 58 mw against 106 mw and in Rangpur around 164 mw against 225 mw.
In a grapple with the situation the DPDC also initiated one-hour load-shedding, instead of two hours, from 12 pm to 7 am with effect from Tuesday, said the officials concerned.