Frequent load-shedding disrupts everyday life in northern parts of country

Frequent load shedding amid severe heatwaves has been disrupting public life in the northern parts of the country. In some places, electricity is gone for more than 8 hours on average. 

Remi Khatun, a resident of Dupchanchia upazila of Bogura, said, "It is difficult to tell about the electricity coming and going. There are long hours of load-shedding."

"Now load shedding has reached the level of torture," said another Bogura resident, Sushmita Karmakar. 

Khadija Khatun, a resident of Pabna, said, "My baby is two and a half months old. We can't sleep in peace because of the load-shedding amid the heatwave. The temperature is so high that it is very difficult to go outside during the day. There is no electricity for 10 hours in a day."

Champak Kumar, a resident of Joypurhat, said there is an average of 5 to 6 hours of load shedding in his area.

"Due to heat and load shedding, no one is able to work normally. Business is bad. It is also difficult to say what is the condition of chicken farms in this district." he added. 

Farmer Abu Saeed cultivated paddy on 10 bighas of land in the Pargerbari area of Dhunat. He irrigated these lands with pumps.

"It is becoming difficult to irrigate the land due to the load-shedding. To save the farmers and agriculture sector, it is necessary to provide electricity to irrigate the land," he added. 

"There is no load-shedding in Bogra today after 10am. There are many technical things that common people do not understand due to which we have to opt for load-shedding. Now the demand of electricity has increased a lot. Due to the capacity of our machines, that much power cannot be supplied as per demand. It is difficult to explain this problem to common people," said Iqbal Hossain, the assistant engineer of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) Bogura office.