Savar industrial belt gasps as 13-hour blackouts, fuel crunch hit hard

The crisis has disrupted key export sectors -- readymade garments and leather -- halting production

An acute power shortage coupled with a severe fuel crisis has pushed public life and industrial production in Savar and its adjacent areas to the brink of collapse.

Over the last few weeks, residents and factory owners in the industrial outskirts of the capital have been enduring 12 to 13 hours of power cuts daily.

The crisis has hit the country’s primary export sectors -- readymade garments and leather -- halting machinery and threatening international delivery schedules.

The situation is particularly dire in Savar municipality and surrounding unions, where the lack of a scheduled power outage has left citizens helpless amid a heatwave.

"We are in an impossible situation. We can't sleep at night and can't work during the day," said Hamid Mia, a local resident.

Authorities at the Rural Electrification Board (REB) admit they are struggling to cope with a massive gap between demand and supply from the national grid.

Delwar Hossain, director of Needle Stitch Composite Ltd, described the erratic supply: "Electricity comes for 40-50 minutes and then disappears for two hours.”

“Sometimes it stays for only five minutes. We are being forced to declare holidays for the factory," he said.

He added that smaller factories are struggling to source diesel as larger units secure bulk supplies from filling stations.

REB General Manager Solaiman Hossain reported a demand of 307 MW against a supply of only 185 MW in Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity-3, saying they understand the suffering but are not receiving enough power from the grid.

In Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity-1, REB General Manager Aktaruzzaman Laskar said they are receiving only 307 MW against a demand of 479 MW.

The crisis is dual-edged for factories: while the grid fails to provide electricity, a shortage of diesel and gas prevents them from running backup generators effectively.

Industry insiders say production capacity has plummeted to 30-40 percent.

The inability to meet foreign buyers' deadlines is sparking fears of massive financial losses and potential "lay-offs" that could leave thousands of workers jobless.

In Savar’s tannery industrial estate, the power outage has jeopardised the preservation of raw hides.

Md Sakhawat Ullah, owner of Salma Tannery, noted that hides collected after the recent Eid-ul-Fitr are at risk of rotting.

Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are also facing significant losses as perishable goods in refrigerators spoil and electronic-dependent businesses remain shut for most of the day.

While factories within the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) and those with independent solar power systems remain relatively insulated, the vast majority of the industrial belt faces an uncertain future.

Officials could not provide a specific timeframe for improvement, citing the overall national fuel crisis as the primary bottleneck.