Frequent load-shedding leaves people suffering at Bagha Upazila

 
BAGHA, RAJSHAHI, Aug 11:  Residents of Bagha Upazila in Rajshahi are suffering from frequent load-shedding and low voltage, with power cuts occurring repeatedly throughout the day and night.

The frequent outages are disrupting daily life and damaging electronic appliances, including televisions, refrigerators and computers. Businesses are also suffering losses due to the unstable power supply.

According to the Bagha zonal office of Natore Palli Bidyut Samity-2, there are 70,157 electricity consumers under its jurisdiction. The area's electricity demand is around 18 megawatts at night, against a supply of 11mw, leaving a shortfall of 7mw. During the day, demand stands at 10mw while supply is around 7mw, creating a 3mw deficit.

The shortage is resulting in frequent load-shedding across the upazila's seven unions and two municipalities.

There are more than 200 government and private offices and educational institutions in the area. Traders say the low voltage and power cuts are disrupting their operations and causing losses of thousands of taka every day.

Sirajul Islam, owner of Swarna Colour Digital Studio at Arani Bazar, said his business is suffering badly because of the outages.

“Computers are getting damaged once or twice almost every week due to load-shedding. This is causing significant losses,” he said.

Workshop owner Sudarshan Kumar of Arani said the situation was making it difficult to keep his business running.

Monirul Islam, Deputy General Manager of the Bagha zonal office, said three substations �" Arani, Jot Raghob and Chak Rajapur �" operate under the office.

“There are 15 feeder lines under the three substations. Electricity is distributed among the feeder lines according to the allocation for each area,” he said.