Reports of violent protests against frequent load-shedding of power amid the sultry weather have come from across the country in the past two days.
People of at least five places including three spots in Gazipur and one each in Kishoreganj and Munshiganj vandalised the local power distribution offices, blockaded the highways and staged demonstrations in demand of uninterrupted power supply.
Our local correspondents of the areas reported that the power distribution agencies concerned had been imposing 12- to 15-hour load-shedding whenever temperature used to rise.
A number of residents of different areas of the country said they had been experiencing 8-10-hour power outage for past two days.
Shyamal Bhoumik, a resident of Rampura in the capital, said he was worried that some disaster might have happened in the power sector.
'Frequent load-shedding of power also prevent the IPS [instant power supply] units to get fully charged. My three-year-old kid became sick from the humid heat that has been prevailing for the last few days,' he said.
A Power Development Board official said the overall electricity generation of the country dropped bellow the 4,000MW-mark, while the demand for power had risen above 6,000MW in the past two days.
However, according to the National Load Dispatch Centre, the country's highest power generation on Monday was about 4,500MW against a maximum demand for 5,700MW of power.
People from different professions of the society have been demonstrating for power.
Locals of Louhajang Upazila under Munshiganj had blockaded the Dhaka-Munshiganj Highway for half an hour on Monday noon.
People of at least three places of two upazilas in Gazipur district on Sunday staged demonstrations, demanding uninterrupted power supply amid the sultry weather.
Local people's representatives, businessmen, and students of Sripur upazila in Gazipur on Sunday staged demonstrations demanding uninterrupted power supply and no transmission of power generated by the local power plants to elsewhere in the country before fulfilling the local demand for electricity.
The demonstrators vandalised the gate of Sripur area office of Mymensingh Palli Bidyut Samity-2 at around 11am and later put a barricade at the Sripur crossing on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, allowing no traffic movement along the road till 2pm.
Earlier, locals of Maona blockaded the highway for an hour. They withdrew the blockade after Mymensingh Palli Bidyut Samity-2 deputy general manager Abul Bashar had assured them of supplying power for 15 to 16 hours a day from next Thursday.
Angry locals of Kaliakoir in Gazipur and of Bajitpur in Kiahorganj also attacked the local power distribution offices and vandalised them on Monday.
Source : New Age
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