Majority of Bangladesh without power after grid failure

Published October 4, 2022
A pharmaceutical shop uses candle lights to serve customers during countrywide blackout in Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 4. — Reuters
A pharmaceutical shop uses candle lights to serve customers during countrywide blackout in Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 4. — Reuters

At least 130 million people in Bangladesh were without power on Tuesday afternoon after a grid failure caused widespread blackouts, the government’s power utility company said.

More than 80 per cent of the country was hit by the sudden outage shortly after 2 pm local time, according to the Power Development Board.

Apart from some locations in Bangladesh’s northwest, “the rest of the country is without power”, agency spokesman Shamim Ahsan told AFP.

Ahsan said 130m people or more were without electricity and it remained unclear what had caused the fault.

“It is still under investigation,” he said, adding that a technical malfunction was the likely reason.

Junior technology minister Zunaid Palak said on Facebook that power would be restored by 8pm in the capital Dhaka, itself home to more than 22m people.

Bangladesh has suffered a major power crisis in recent months as a result of higher global energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Public anger has intensified over lengthy blackouts in the South Asian nation, which is struggling to pay for enough imported diesel and gas to meet electricity demand.

Bangladesh last witnessed a major unscheduled blackout in November 2014, when around 70pc of the country went without power for nearly 10 hours.

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
Updated 29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

It is clear that going after militant groups inside Afghanistan unilaterally presents its own set of difficulties.
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...