Load shedding or \\\'force shedding\\\'? It\\\'s back again

Syed Jamaluddin | Published: April 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Because of extreme heat, electricity load shedding is taking place throughout the country. It takes place three to four times a day with duration of one hour each time. The Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) says that there is no load shedding. It says, it's 'force shedding' due to problems of distribution. If the power stations are on for a long time, the components go out of order. The machines have to be stopped for sometime. This is 'force shedding'. But impact of 'force shedding' or load shedding is the same on the people.
Residents of Sankar, Mirpur and Shymoli reported load shedding five to seven times daily. It has been ascertained that in old Dhaka, Jatrabari, Khilgaon and Rampura, load shedding is taking place three to four times a day. Load shedding is taking place in Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi. The State Minister for Power has said that power disruption takes place because of distribution problem.
In Chittagong, the power stations cannot maximise production due to gas shortage. As a result, load shedding is increasing every day. There is power rationing for mills and factories in Chittagong but even then power is short in supply. There are 78 heavy and medium-sized industries in Chittagong and their requirement is 228MW. But these establishments get less than 50 per cent of power supply. Their production is thus hampered. In Chittagong, daily load shedding is 120/130MW. It may go up further if summer heat increases.
The unbearable load shedding during severe heat of Baishak has made life difficult. People are impatient in towns and villages due to load shedding. It is more serious in the villages. This has affected production in mills and factories and caused dislocation in education. Cropland has broken into pieces. Farmers are unable to irrigate IRRI-Boro crops. There is a danger of crop loss. Handloom factories are suffering production loss.
Reports from Gaibanda say khal, beel and rivers have dried up. There is irrigation crisis. Load shedding has come on top of this. Crops have been burnt due to heat wave. HSC examinees are facing difficulties due to load shedding. Power supply remains suspended for three to nine hours in the villages. At Gaibanda, the power transformer is very old and cannot keep the required load. Power supply is not available from the grid, according to the needs.
At Valuka, one irrigation project is closed for want of power and the Boro crop is lost. Another project is without any power because work on the 30MW project is closed. Farmers in the area are upset. A Sirajganj report says due to load shedding, 18,000 power looms are affected. Unless power supply is resumed, loss of power looms will increase. In Narayanganj, industrialists of the area are facing difficulties due to load shedding. Power loom factories in particular are facing problems. Load shedding takes place 12 times and the machines cannot run and production may come down to zero.
A heat wave is sweeping over several districts. The Met Office sees very little possibility of rain in the next three/four days in and around Dhaka. They believe that there might be one or two lows in the Bay of Bengal this month with the possibility of one cyclone and  there may be rain next week.
The sultry weather is taking a toll on the power supply. Although the PDB  says it has enough power to meet the total demand, different areas of the country are experiencing load shedding. Several local power distribution systems are frequently overheating due to high demand and these are shut to cool off.
Continuous high consumption of electricity is putting pressure on sub-stations. These sub-stations are shutting down to avoid malfunctioning. This is leading to power supply disruption. The high temperature is taking its toll on agriculture. It is a drought-like situation in many areas of the country.
Load shedding is rising because of severe heat wave. It is everywhere - in villages and towns. Production in mills and factories in rural areas has gone down by 50 per cent. The Power Division is saying that power production is enough but there is a problem of distribution but in fact people are not getting power. Power supply is now facing a definitional problem-shut-down or load shedding.
One official of PDB said that the government might have shown higher production of power but it is never possible to produce power according to the need. On  April 20, Tk 630 million was spent for burning oil which is a record. Tk 720 million was spent for power production. Power subscribers expressed anguish over shortage. From Bangsal, Mir Hazaribagh and Dolaipar, water pumps cannot operate for want of electricity, said a resident of Mirpur. Another
official has said  power situation will not improve unless weather cools down.
In Chittagong, power was supplied to the national grid and the situation was bad there. On April 20 and 21, load shedding was 50 to 200MW in Chittagong. The situation will improve if production in other centres goes up. Production of power in Chittagong varies from710 to 780 MW as against the requirement of 700 to 800MW. People suffer because of scorching heat and power shortage. Villages have to face the same difficulties. Teaching in schools has become impossible. People are demanding summer holiday on emergency basis.
The government has declared that it has solved the power problem but the reality is different. Although load shedding may be tolerable in the city, the situation is much worse in the villages. Load shedding continues for ¾ hours in the divisional cities. In old Dhaka, Dhanmondi, Jatrabari, Panthapath, Gulistan, Demra, Azimpur, Rampura, Banasri, Mohammadpur, Mirpur and Kalyanpur load shedding takes place four times a day. Beyond Dhaka power shortage has been reported from Chittagong, Comilla, Rajshahi, Khulna, Gaibandha and Madaripur.
The writer is an economist
and columnist.
jamaluddinsyed23@yahoo.com.au