CHITTAGONG, Oct 6: Power outage hits Chittagong as production at three major power plants in the public sector has remained suspended for over a month due to lack of gas supply.
Gas supply to domestic, commercial and industrial enterprises has also been reduced in the region. Most of the domestic burners run dry in the morning and afternoon, forcing the cookers to wait for hours.
Power shortage has now become very acute in Chittagong. Of the three power plants, two 210-megawatt gas-fired units at Raozan would produce 360 megawatt while 60-mw Shikalbaha Power Plant would produce 40mw electricity when they would resume operation.
The situation has further aggravated with a reduced supply of electricity from the national grid, officials at Power Development Board regional office said, adding that it may continue for weeks ahead.
When the residential areas suffer from electricity shortage, production at different factories also faces severe disruption causing immense loss to the economy.
Load-shedding has hit hard almost all areas in the city. The worst-sufferers are the residents of Bakolia, Anderkilla, Khatunganj, Ghatforhadbag, Nalapara, Enayet Bazar, Patharghata, Momin Road, Chawkbazar, Agrabad, Halishahar, Nasirabad industrial area, Kalurghat industrial area, Patenga, Dewan Bazar, Syed Shah Road, CDA residential area and Chandgaon residential area.
Production at most of the garment factories in the city and factories in Kalurghat, Nasirabad, Oxygen, Mohra and other industrial areas is being hampered severely, said president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam and president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalilur Rahman.
Mr Rahman said the overall activities including production in the ready-made garment sector suffer a lot due to shortage of gas and electricity supply which is unprecedented in Chittagong in recent months.
Electricity comes for half an hour but goes for two hours at regular intervals. City dwellers are approaching their local PDB with complaints against their sufferings caused by power outage.
Officials in the PDB regional distribution office at Agrabad said three major units are out of production for over one month while the national power grid has reduced supply to 50mw-60mw in Chittagong which was above 200mw on average a day at the end of August last.
Senior Assistant Director of PDB southern zone Moniruzzaman said one of the two gas-fired power plants at Raozan and another power plant at Shikolbaha have remained closed for one month due to shortage of gas.
On the other hand, the national power grid is supplying only 50-60mw electricity. Due to suspension of power generation at two plants, regional power plants now produce 850mw-900mw electricity.
A PDB engineer at Agrabad said one of the Raozan Power Plants has suspended production due to lack of gas supply while the other plant is undergoing some sort of technical works. The 60-megawatt Shikalbaha plant also faces gas shortage and has suspended generation.
He said there are 13 power plants in both public and private sectors in Chittagong, having an average daily production capacity of 1100 mw. While the current total power generation in Chittagong amounts to 850-900 mw, it faces deficit of 200-250 mw.
Power generation remains normal in Juldha Peaking Power Plant, Dohazari Power Plant and Hathazari Peaking Power Plant in the public sector.
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