April in rural areas may get crueller

Despite assurances that there would be uninterrupted electricity supply during Ramadan, the government's summer plan seems to have fallen flat on its face. Recent news reports have shown that rural areas—including in Mymensingh, Cumilla, Rangpur, Bogura, Khulna, Sylhet, and Rajshahi—are experiencing six to eight hours of load-shedding a day. With April giving us an early taste of how hot the weather will be during the next few months, the prospect of prolonged power outages amid sweltering heat is daunting. The high demand for power during summer months is predictable, so it should have been reflected in the government's preparations.

What is more frustrating is that while load-shedding continues, the overall cost of power has inexplicably gone up, thanks to our under-utilised power generation capacity resulting in huge "capacity charges." The government has announced further increases in power prices. To the people in rural areas, who are being disproportionately affected by power outages, such increases are punitive and illogical.

Fuel shortage is a major reason why power stations sit idle despite the increase in demand for electricity. With an acute gas shortage, half of the gas-powered plants sit idle. The US dollar crisis, moreover, has led to the government not being able to import the required amount of fuel to get the power stations operating. According to a report by this paper, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) generated about 12,700 MW of electricity on Thursday afternoon while the demand was 14,300 MW. This means that there was a 1,600MW deficit, which led to hours of load-shedding.

BPDB officials say that they are prioritising Dhaka and other divisional cities in case of electricity supply. This discriminatory approach is unacceptable. With temperatures reaching 35 to 38 degrees Celsius in many districts, the risk of heat-related illnesses is considerably higher there. Long bouts of outage severely hamper industry and agriculture as well. Already, Boro crops are being affected.

A lack of foresight in policymaking is to be blamed for the people's suffering this summer. The government's reluctance to phase out fuel-based power plants over the years has resulted in this bizarre situation where it is paying a huge amount in capacity charges but cannot provide the required electricity. The government must take decisive steps to bring load-shedding in rural areas down to a tolerable level. We hope the Eid holidays, when most people head for the villages, will not be hampered by such nuisance.