Published : 04 Oct 2022, 03:45 PM
Updated : 04 Oct 2022, 05:28 PM
Power outages have hit large swathes of Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions after a transmission line of the national grid tripped in the eastern zone, officials said.
The trouble started around 2 pm on Tuesday due to a 'technical glitch', Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) officials said.
“It takes at least two to three hours to fix a problem like this. Our team has already started the repair work,” said PGCB Executive Director Yakub Elahi Chowdhury.
Besides Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and Mymensingh, parts of northern Bangladesh were also left without power, according to Yakub.
“If there's a problem in one area, it's bound to spread elsewhere. But we can’t pinpoint the region in which the problem originated because of technical reasons,” he said.
A month ago, the majority of Rajshahi, Khulna and Barishal divisions faced power outages stretching from 40 minutes to one and a half hours when a transmission line of the national grid tripped.
Asked why the problem has reoccurred, the director once again pointed to a technical glitch. “The issue isn't related to the grid being overloaded. But we need more time to see if there’s any other issue.”
Dhaka and Narayanganj began experiencing brownouts at 2 pm, while the power went out in Chattogram at 2:30 pm.
“We know that there’s been trouble in the eastern zone of the national grid, but don’t know exactly where," Rezaul Karim, the chief engineer of the Chattogram division of the Power Development Board, told bdnews24.com.
The power supply to the entirety of the Sylhet division has been disrupted, according to Abdul Quader, the chief engineer of the Power Development Board in Sylhet.
“The problem lies with the national grid. We heard that the repair work is underway,” he said.
Moulvibazar has also been gripped by a power outage, according to a PDB engineer.
Meanwhile, Mymensingh has been without power since 2 pm due to the national grid collapse, according to Anwarul Haque, the PDB's chief engineer for Mymensingh north. It may take some time to resolve the issue, he said.
Shameem Hasan, deputy director of PDB, said it will take around three hours to resolve the issue. He hopes that the situation will return to normal after that.
