Loadshedding paralyses life in Khulna region

The ongoing heatwave and frequent power outages have paralysed normal life across the Khulna region, causing widespread hardship for residents. Repeated load-shedding has disrupted education, daily activities, and industrial production, with HSC examinees among the worst affected.

Frequent power outages have severely disrupted life in Khulna city and across the 10 districts of Khulna Division. According to sources, shutdowns of power lines and an ongoing electricity shortage have caused unbearable suffering for residents.

The power crisis is affecting households, students, businesses, and industries throughout Khulna and surrounding districts, with prolonged load-shedding disrupting daily life.

Ramim Hossain, an HSC examinee from Shiali village in Terokhada upazila, said the electricity supply has remained highly irregular since the publication of the examination schedule.

“On average, we have been without electricity for 10 to 12 hours every day. For the past week, power has been unavailable almost every evening until around midnight, seriously disrupting my studies,” he said.

Munni Akter, a resident of Rupsha upazila, expressed similar concerns.

“Power outages occur almost every evening. Even during the day, electricity goes off four to five times and usually does not return for one and a half to two hours,” she said.

According to officials of the West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd (WZPDCL), electricity demand across the 21 southwestern districts, including Khulna, stood at 773 megawatts at 8:00 pm on Sunday.

However, the region received only 673 megawatts, leaving a shortfall of 100 megawatts. Of the deficit, 71 megawatts affected the Khulna region and 29 megawatts the Barishal region. In Khulna city and district alone, load-shedding reached a peak of 36 megawatts.

WZPDCL Managing Director Zakiruzzaman said the utility had no option but to implement load-shedding because of the limited electricity supply.

“We are compelled to carry out load-shedding because of the inadequate electricity allocation. We are also holding regular meetings with business owners to encourage efficient use of electricity and reduce unnecessary consumption,” he said.

Tushar Kanti Mondal, General Manager of the Khulna Palli Bidyut Samity, said the cooperative serves around 450,000 consumers, with a daily demand of 80 to 85 megawatts.

“At present, we are receiving only 80 to 90 percent of the required supply, leaving a deficit of around 10 to 20 percent,” he said.

The power shortage has also taken a heavy toll on industrial production.

At Fresh Foods Limited, an export-oriented shrimp processing plant in Ilaipur of Rupsha upazila, repeated power outages forced many workers to remain idle during working hours.

An official of the company’s production department said the factory experienced five separate outages in a single day, leaving it without electricity for a total of seven hours and 40 minutes.

To keep operations running, the company spent Tk 55,315 on diesel for generators, incurring additional operating costs of more than Tk 30,000. As a result, production declined by an estimated 25 to 30 percent, the official added.