BARISHAL, Feb 1: As the national election approaches, residents across the Barishal region are facing a worsening electricity crisis, with supply falling drastically below demand.
Over the past week, the region's electricity shortfall, previously around 35%, surged to 60% on Thursday, disrupting daily life and industrial activity. The deficit has intensified during the evening peak hours, and shortages now persist from late night into the daytime, taking on an unprecedented scale in recent times.
According to multiple sources from PDB, WZPDCL, and rural electricity cooperatives, the Barishal region has a demand of nearly 700 megawatts during peak hours. Although the supply had been about 450-500 megawatts over the past week, Thursday saw availability drop to just 45% of demand, further declining to 40% during evening peak.
The crisis has been exacerbated by the closure of key power units due to coal shortages. One 660 MW unit at the Payra Thermal Power Plant, along with two 650 MW units at RNCL, remain offline, limiting electricity inflow to the national grid and reducing the power delivered locally in line with demand.
As a result, the current crisis is causing widespread hardship for residents across Barishal and the entire southern region, severely affecting household life, industrial production, and commerce. Repeated day-night load-shedding is making life increasingly difficult, and there are growing concerns that the upcoming February 12 national elections could also be negatively impacted.
