Indo-Bangla power interconnection line trips leading to countrywide chain reaction
Power supply resumed in parts of Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Rajshahi tonight nearly 10 hours after the unprecedented breakdown of the national grid.
The supply of electricity has resumed in various parts of the capital city of Dhaka including Gulshan, Banani, Uttara, Motijheel, Mirpur and Mohammadpur, said Masum-Al-Beruni, managing director of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh.
He added that power supplies were also restored in parts of Chittagong, Rajshahi and Sylhet. The supply in Khulna will begin soon, he said.
“We hope that this time there will not be any further disruption,” he told The Daily star over phone tonight.
Saleha Akter, a resident of Mohammadpur, told The Daily Star that she got power in her house around 9:00pm.
The power generation was 1,800mw at 9:15pm against the demand of more than 6,000mw, said Beruni. “The generation is increasing gradually.”
The power generation was disrupted with the national grid failure after the Bangladesh-India power interconnection line at Bheramara had tripped.
After the countrywide disaster at 11:30am, some power plants resumed generation to some extent leading to power supply to some areas, including parts of capital Dhaka.
But those failed again in in the afternoon.
The whole country suffered power outages when the Bangladesh-India power interconnection line at Bheramara in Kushtia tripped.
The interconnection line used for transmission of 450 Megawatt power, tripped at 11:30am, a source at Power Development Board (PDB) told The Daily Star.
The sudden vacuum caused disruption of power generation at all power plants across the country.
Around 1:00pm, some power plants resumed generation.
Talking to the media, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu said a committee has been formed to investigate the power failure across the country. The committee will submit a report in three days after investigation.
“The prime minister is aware of the every measure taken for restoring the power supply,” the state minister said.
Electricity supply has resumed on emergency basis at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and major hospitals, he said.
The airport authorities were continuing operation through a powerful generator since noon amid the power disruption, said Rezaul Karim, public relation officer of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, the country’s largest public hospital, used standby generator to run the hospital. Diagnosis services like CT scan and X-ray have been kept shut at the DMCH which consume huge amount of electricity, hospital sources said.
Source: The Daily Star
