Nearly 80 lakh out of 4 crore and 80 lakh consumers in the country remained without electricity after cyclone Sitrang hit Bangladesh on Monday evening, said state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid.
“Of them, some 60 lakh are under the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board and the remaining consumers are under other power distribution companies like NESCO and WZPDCL,” he told reporters at his ministry on Tuesday.
Nasrul Hamid said efforts are underway to restore electricity supply for 80 lakh consumers who are facing load-shedding right now as an aftereffect of Cyclone Sitrang. It will be possible to restore power supply to 70 per cent of the affected areas by Tuesday evening while the rest 30 per cent will get electricity by Wednesday afternoon, he added.
However, the hospitals and other emergency services will get priority.
Nasrul Hamid said that power supply was disrupted mainly by falling of trees on the transmission and distribution lines. Many electric poles were uprooted by the cyclone that caused blackout in many areas, he added.
“Around 2,000 electric poles, including 800 poles of the Rural Electrification Board, have been damaged by the cyclone. However, the damage caused by the cyclone was not assessed yet. It will take some more time to get a complete picture of the damages,” the state minister said.
He also said, "We have not suffered any major damage to the transmission system. A major hit occurred in distribution where the cable has been torn. Uprooted trees caused damage to the lines. Due to wire rupture, we have completely shut down the electricity in some areas.”
Nasrul Hamid said that the employees of the distribution company are working round the clock. Bhola, Patuakhali, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Feni, Noakhali, and Chattogram areas were affected seriously. Power transformers have been damaged in some areas due to waterlogging in several sub-stations.
After making landfall on Monday, the cyclone carved a path of devastation across the country, uprooting trees and utility poles while disrupting power and telecom connections.
Repairs to power lines were underway, but it may take time to complete the work due to an extensive damage caused by the cyclonic storm in some areas, according to the distribution companies.