Power shortage, water crisis make Sylhet city life miserable

Power shortage and water crisis in Sylhet have turned into a serious problem in the last few days amid sweating summer heat that has made the peoples’ life miserable.
In the city, people of Housing Estate, Shahjalal Upashahar, South Surma, Taltala, Subid Bazar, Ambarkhana, Mendibagh, Shibganj, Akhalia and Tuker Bazar are the worst sufferers due to frequent load shedding and water crisis.
Sources said the city corporation was supplying only one-third water of the total daily demand of people, paralysing their lives during the recent scorching heat of summer.
City corporation officials said water could not be supplied regularly as most of the time the water pumps remain inactive due to frequent load shedding and voltage fluctuation.
Hundreds of patients at different hospitals were the worst victims of the situation, sources said.
PDB officials said, For the last few days, the greater Sylhet region was getting only 200-250MW of electricity against a daily demand of 300-350MW.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has expressed discontent over the situation. He claimed that there was enough power produced in Sylhet region, adding that Sylhet cannot suffer immense power shortage.
‘Some dishonest officials are doing this to destroy the image of the government,’ he alleged. Currently, Sylhet produces a total of 400-500MW electricity in different power plants, PDB officials informed.
Executive Engineer of the Power Development Board (PDB), Sylhet, said they were not being able to supply adequate electricity due to old-age equipments.
The city corporation Chief Engineer Noor Azizur Rahman said the existing water crisis would be solved to some extent when the newly installed water treatment plants become operative within few months.
‘The corporation is now supplying some 30m litres of water against the demand of about 80m litres,’ he said.
Prices of essentials soar ahead of Ramadan
Prices of essentials have started to spiral especially vegetables, culinary herbs and spices soared in the kitchen markets of Sylhet ahead of Ramadan,
With the start of the holy month, retail prices of most of the items nearly doubled – trebled in some cases – although there are plenty of supplies to make the necessary demand-supply balance at the market.
During a visit to one of the busiest marketplaces in the city, Bondor Bazar, it was found that one kilogram of pepper was selling at Tk 50, which was Tk 20-Tk30 even a few days ago.
Coriander is selling at Tk180-Tk200 per kg, which previously came by Tk60-Tk70. Onion is selling at Tk30 per kg, which was Tk20 last week.
The price of ginger has risen from Tk70 to Tk100, and garlic is selling at Tk70. Carrot is selling at Tk60, which was Tk35 previously. The price of cucumber has also doubled.
On the other hand, the price of tomato has upped from last week’s Tk30 to Tk40 per kg. One bundle of spinach is selling at Tk20, which was Tk10 before; aubergine is selling at Tk40 up from Tk25, raw papaya selling at Tk30 up from Tk20, and carrot at Tk60 up from Tk30.
The prices of pulse, chickpea, date and beef have also increased.
But far from being stable, retail markets started showing signs of volatility even before the start of Ramadan, with the prices of most of the essentials witnessing a sharp increase.
Anwar Miah, a vegetable seller at Bondor Bazar, said he sold pepper at Tk50 per kg on Tuesday morning and started selling the same at Tk60 from the night following.
He, however, refused to specify the reasons behind the sudden price jump, other than saying, in a cryptic manner, that it could be because of ‘a wholesale price rise’.
Hamid Miah, another seller, said retail sales of essentials are directly influenced by the wholesale market prices. ‘Any sort of fluctuation in the wholesale price has a direct effect on the retail price too,’ he added.
Consumers, however, are frustrated that no price-cutting initiatives of the government are coming to a pass.
Sayera Begum, a primary schoolteacher who was shopping at the Amborkhana market, told that price hike has become ‘a kind of tradition’ for ahead of Ramadan.
‘Businessmen increase prices without any reason and maximise their profits, at the expense of general people and especially those in the low-income rank,’ she said.
TCB selling commodities in the city
Meanwhile, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has started selling commodities in the city with the help of 40 appointed dealers.
Five of the dealers are selling commodities in the city’s main points by trucks, while the rest 35 are selling in various other places.