Rajshahi suffers from 1.5hr power outage

Residents of Rajshahi city had to suffer a one-and-a-half-hour blackout due to an "emergency shutdown" by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) yesterday morning. In some parts of the city, the power outage lasted for more than two hours.

The outage began from 8:30 in the morning as electricity suppliers Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO) delayed resuming power after PGCB's maintenance works at the Katakhali Grid Maintenance Department.

Electricity consumers from all over Rajshahi city and Paba, Nawhata, Bagha and Charghat upazila called the authorities to complain over the issue, sources said.

Contacted, PGCB executive engineer ASM Mostafijur Rahman said the issue was caused due to an increase in power demands stemming from the ongoing heat wave sweeping over the region.

On Tuesday night, PGCB detected a "red hot issue" (overheating) on a 132KV power line at Katakhali Grid Maintenance Department, PGCB's Mostafijur Rahman said.

"An electronic device and wire had become red with high temperature from the high flow electricity. It required an emergency maintenance to avoid any major problem," he said.

PGCB immediately informed the matter to NESCO who talked with administrative officials and decided that a two-hour emergency shutdown was necessary.

However, PGCB completed the maintenance and resumed power supply on the national grid within one-and-a-half-hours at 10am. But due to their plans, NESCO took until 10:30am to resume power across different areas.

"We resumed power as soon as the grid company started providing it. In some areas, we needed to finish some incomplete works before resuming power," Zakiul Islam, managing director of NESCO, said.

The maintenance took place in the day to avoid the emergency shutdown at night, to minimise people's sufferings, he said.

The official also said they had notified consumers about the shutdown on their website and social media profiles.

However, the shutdown caused immense suffering to the locals either way, especially due to the scorching heat, with temperatures reaching as high as 36 degrees Celsius.

The current daily power demand rose to 170MW in the district, though it never exceeds the limit of 110MW in winter, he said.