BARISHAL, Apr 8: A combination of late-night fog, the scorching Chaitra heat as the day progresses, and a 30 to 35 per cent power deficit against demand has severely disrupted normal public life in Barishal. Amidst the season's highest temperatures, the acute power shortage is introducing fresh miseries for the residents.
On Thursday, the maximum temperature in Barishal hovered near 37 degrees Celsius, which is nearly 4 degrees above normal. Even on Friday morning, after the minimum temperature climbed 2 degrees above normal, the highest daytime temperature remained around 36 degrees Celsius at 3 pm. Typically, the maximum and minimum daytime temperatures in April are expected to be 33.4 and 23.6 degree Celsius, respectively.
Amidst this unbearable weather, rampant load-shedding from Friday evening through late night and into Saturday morning forced around one crore people across the entire southern region, including Barishal City, to endure extreme suffering.
Furthermore, under the pretext of emergency repair and maintenance, the Nabagram Road 33/11 KV sub-station in Barishal City was kept shut from 9 am to 4 pm on Saturday, leaving nearly 30 per cent of the city without electricity and water all day. However, there are allegations that the West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL) paid no attention to the maintenance of its power lines and installations throughout the winter season. Although load-shedding in the city eased slightly during the day due to a drop in demand with an entire sub-station offline, the power deficit returned in full swing by the evening.
Alongside a demand of around 120 megawatts (MW) in Barishal City and Jhalakathi District, a 30 to 35 per cent shortfall against a demand of 650 MW during day-peak hours and 850 MW during evening-peak hours for nearly one crore people across 42 upazilas in the region has rendered the situation dire. Concerned quarters observe that the disproportionately higher power deficit in rural areas compared to the city is taking a heavy toll on the overall economy, adversely affecting everything from the education system to rural business and commerce.
The sudden heatwave, paired with the unbridled power crisis, has pushed public life across the southern region to the brink of disaster. Following a nearly 48 per cent rainfall deficit in the Barishal region in the recently concluded month of March, normal rainfall was forecast for the current month; however, there has been no rain in the first four days. Consequently, the mercury continues to soar. Coupled with this, the ever-widening power gap is spelling disaster for daily life, as well as industry and commerce in Barishal.
No encouraging news regarding an improvement in the power situation could be gleaned from responsible officials of the distribution company, WZPDCL, or various generation units. According to official sources, electricity is supplied to Barishal from the national grid. Stating that power is meant to be distributed here based on the region's share of national generation, the responsible authorities mentioned that there is nothing to be done locally to resolve the issue.
