Power theft has disrupted the lives of ordinary people in Kishoreganj. Electricity theft is going on in the district through various ways including hooking, meter fraud, disconnection of power lines etc. Illegal charging of Easybike also increases the waste of electricity.
Although the government has conducted regulations and campaigns to stop these, the effective role is not being reflected in Kishoreganj. Despite conducting regular operations, Kishoreganj Power Development Board plays a silent role and has not been able to prevent theft due to unknown reasons.
Electricity bills of half a crore taka are also in arrears in various government offices. However, there is a guarantee of getting that money. But there is no guarantee of getting the arrears in the private sector. Again, a case is going on as to why the electricity bill will not be written in Bangla.
Investigation has revealed that some people are directly charging battery-powered rickshaws and easybikes through illegal connections without government permission. Again someone is stealing electricity from the main wire of the power supply (ST connection).
There is also fraud in the electricity meter of the house. As a result, in many homes, even if the fridge, fan and AC are running in the summer, there is not much change in the amount of electricity bill. The number of ghostly electricity bills is also not low. The resentment among the common people of Kishoreganj is increasing day by day.
According to various sources, over a thousand battery-powered rickshaws and one and a half thousand easybikes are plying in Kishoreganj Sadar Upazila regularly. 100 to 150 garages have been set up in different parts of the city secretly and openly to charge their batteries. The garage owner is charging Tk 110 per rickshaw and Tk 150 per easybike to charge the battery every time. In this case also the garage owners are operating the garage with illegal electricity connection. According to several officials of the Power Development Board (PDB), it takes about 7 to 8 hours for a battery to be charged.
Executive Engineer of Kishoreganj Power Development Board Md. Tareq Sefati said, “Since I joined, I have been conducting regular operations to prevent power theft. I am taking legal action by disconnecting after receiving allegations and information of power theft. There is no exemption in case of theft of electricity.”