Two PGCB officials suspended over grid failure

Staff Reporter :
Two officials of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) have been suspended temporarily from their job in connection with the October 4 countrywide massive blackout on the national grid. One of the two officers is a sub-divisional engineer of PGCB
and the other is assistant engineer. The suspended officers are sub-divisional engineer Allama Hasan Bakhtiar (SPMD, Dhaka-1) and assistant engineer Md Mostafizur Rahman (SPMD, Dhaka-1)
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid disclosed it while talking to reporters after receiving the PGCB investigation report in the secretariat on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury in separate programme said, presently there is no other option but to be patient regarding the electricity condition in the country.
“A total of three investigation committees were formed to find out the cause of the grid disaster. Meanwhile, the investigation report of PGCB has been submitted to us. According to the report, the negligence of these two officers has been proven beyond doubt. So it was decided to fire them,” the State Minister said.
Negligence of some other officials of the distribution company might have been in this incident, he said adding that other investigations will also reveal the names of those involved. “We will take action against them if found involvement by the other investigation teams,” Nasrul Hamid said.
Industrial productions, including crucial readymade garments, were severely disrupted due to the blackout.
“Had it not been for the shortage of fuel, we could have ensured 24 hours of electricity. Power generation capacity has been reduced due to fuel shortage. Now we have to conserve foreign currency,” Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said during an event organised by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) on Sunday.
PM’s energy advisor said if the world condition gets better, then there will be no problem, otherwise, the country will suffer due to fuel shortage.
“The grid has failed in the meantime. It will take time to fix. The government is always trying,” he said, adding “I had a feeling that coal powers would come. It might seem that electricity will come from big power plants after two months, but in reality, it takes six months.”
“We think once power started coming from Jharkhand and Rampal, this problem will be no more. Rampal’s electricity may come by the end of this year. Electricity from Jharkhand may come at the beginning of the year. As such, we will have to wait for 3-4 months. Demand will decrease when winter comes,” he further said.
On 4 October, Bangladesh suffered its worst blackout in 10 years owing to a “technical glitch”. Parts of the country-Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Chattogram and Sylhet – plunged into darkness as soon as dusk fell after the national grid tripped at 2:05pm – causing blackouts across Bangladesh, except some parts in the north.
The repercussions of the sudden disruption could be felt everywhere – readymade garment factories suspended production, Internet and mobile networks were interrupted, hospitals were in disarray, sales were stopped at fuel pumps and water supply was dwindling.
Radio frequency for mobile network operators and bandwidth internet services had been disrupted largely due to the long blackout.
Mobile phone users in different areas experienced call drops and slow internet speeds.
Following the incident, the PGCB formed a 5-member inquiry committee to investigate the reason behind the grid failure. Yakub Elahi Chowdhury, Executive Director of the organization, lead the investigation team.