With nine power plants currently shut down, severe load shedding has disrupted daily life in Chattogram. Amid temperatures ranging between 34 and 36 degrees Celsius, the ongoing power crisis has significantly increased public suffering.
Residents across the city are facing frequent power outages. In many households, even water supply from WASA cannot be ensured due to the lack of electricity.
Bakolia area experienced power cuts eight times in a single day, with each outage lasting between one to one and a half hours on Thursday. Similar problem is being reported across almost all parts of the city.
The situation has become particularly difficult for students, as the ongoing SSC and equivalent examinations are being affected by the lack of uninterrupted electricity.
Bakalia resident Advocate Joyshree Nandi said that power outages are occurring equally during the day and night, making life especially difficult for elderly people and child.
She added that frequent outages at night are disrupting sleep and daily activities. If every year there are instructions to ensure uninterrupted electricity during examinations, no effective intiative has been seen this year.
According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), out of 28 power plants in Chattogram, nine are currently shut down, while 19 remain operational. The main reasons include gas and fuel shortages, as well as reduced water levels in Kaptai Lake.
Statistics show that load shedding in Chattogram was 54 megawatts on April 3. Within just 11 days, it surged to 282 megawatts on April 14 (Pohela Boishakh), marking an increase of more than five times. During the same period, power generation also dropped sharply from 3,408 megawatts on April 4 to 1,470 megawatts on April 14.
On April 18, the total electricity demand in Chattogram stood at 1,445 megawatts, while supply was only 1,338 megawatts, resulting in 148 megawatts of load shedding.
Chief Engineer (Distribution, South Zone) of BPDB, Md. Kamal Uddin Ahmed, said that the region is receiving 50 to 200 megawatts less than required from the national grid on a daily basis, making load shedding unavoidable. He explained that electricity generated in Chattogram is fed into the national grid and then redistributed, meaning the city does not directly consume its own production power.
Among the power plants, Raozan-1 and Raozan-2 have long remained non-operational. Of the five units at the Kaptai Hydropower Plant, only two are currently running, while the remaining three are shut due to low water levels. In the private sector, plants such as Juddiac, Julda-2, and Julda-3 are also not producing electricity. Even renewable energy has been affected, as the Teknaf Solar Plant failed to supply power on April 18.
Coal-based plants are also underperforming. The SS Power Plant in Banshkhali recently generated a maximum of 586 megawatts, compared to 1,164 megawatts two weeks earlier.
Experts say that rising temperatures have increased electricity demand in residential areas, while irrigation needs for Boro crops and ongoing industrial activities have further driven up demand. However, as production has not kept pace, the load shedding situation continues to worsen.
