Shuvechchha Ghosh, a resident of Chattogram's Askar Dighir Par area, has been suffering lately due to frequent load shedding, which occurs six to seven times a day.

As the scorching autumn heat long with high humidity  makes life miserable, Shuvechchha's two-and-a-half-year-old baby finds it impossible to sleep, leaving her fanning him for hours.

"Power went out at 6:00am on Sunday, then came back about an hour later. Then it went out again at 9:30am, then came back at 10:20am. This cycle repeated the entire day till midnight," she said.

Like Shuvechchha, residents of many other areas in the port city, including Chawk Bazar, Panchlaish, Katalganj, Sulakbahar, Bakalia, Kazir Dewri, Love Lane, Jubillee Road, Teri Bazar, Hazari Goli, Andar Killah, Dewan Bazar, Room Ghata, Dewanji Pukur Par, Sub Area, Nawab Sirajuddaullah Road, Telipatti Road, Lal Chand Road, Joy Nagar, Munshi Pukur Par, Hamzarbagh, Bibirhat, Oxygen, Chatteshwari Road and Lalkhan Bazar, have been suffering for the past week due to power outages.

"The weather in Chattogram was mild during heavy rain in the second week of this month, but after that, the temperature rose, and the frequency of load shedding increased," said Abdul Aziz, a resident of Panchlaish area.

Contacted, Shampa Nandi, assistant chief engineer of PDB Chattogram, said that they were receiving 200-250mw less electricity than the daily need.

On average, the daily demand for energy in Chattogram remains at 1,200mw during peak hours and around 1,100mw during regular hours.

Power demand was 1,109mw at 11:00am and 1,235mw at 7:00pm in Chattogram on Sunday.

According to a document obtained by The Daily Star, 16 power plants in Chattogram region, including five units of Kaptai, two each in Raozan and Shikalbaha, and Matarbari Power Plant, generated a total of 1,510mw of power to the national grid on Sunday.

Asked about the reason behind load shedding, despite local plants generating more electricity than required, Rezaul Karim, chief engineer (distribution) of PDB Chattogram, said, "We receive power from the national grid, not directly from local power plants."

"Due to a lack of oil, some of the country's oil-fired power plants are unable to produce power at full capacity, resulting in a decline in national production. As a result, Chattogram is receiving less power than usual," he added.

However, he hoped that the energy situation in Chattogram  will improve within the next three days.