Power officials say electricity supply could resume to one or two areas within afternoon

The residents of Sylhet City, suburban areas, Chhatak upazila and Sunamganj district town are going without power for nearly 30 hours as the authorities concerned say it is unlikely that power supply will be restored soon to all affected areas.

Power outage has triggered water shortage in many areas. People are struggling to keep their cellphones on and are reporting internet issues. Meanwhile, water supply has remained suspended during the blackout, putting city residents and patients at hospitals in trouble.

Rasel Ahmed, a resident of Zindabazar, said he has never seen a blackout like this one. “We don’t know when the power supply will be restored. My family has asked me to buy bottled water since water supply is off,” he said.

The power cut has affected operations at hospitals and public and private offices. Only a small number of refuelling stations are open but they are struggling to provide fuel to customers. The sales of candles and bottled water have shot up, reports UNB.

A massive power outage gripped Sylhet city and its suburban area since Tuesday morning after a fire broke out at 120MW Kumargaon Power Station. Sources say the extent of the loss is about Tk 200 crore.

Engineer Khandaker Mokammel Hossain, Power Development Board (Selling & Distribution), Sylhet, said 400 workers are working to restore the power supply.

“There’s a chance that supply to one or two areas will resume within Wednesday,” he said.

Power connection of some pillars of Kumargaon 132/33 KV grid will resume on an experimental basis in the afternoon, he said, adding: “If things go smoothly, then there’s a possibility to restore power in one or two areas today.”

Two transformers, worth Tk 70 crore were gutted in the fire while the 33 KV feeder and bar were damaged.

About 400,000 consumers in Sylhet city and its adjacent areas, Chhatak and Sunamganj district town have been hit by the power outage.

“Our workers are working relentlessly to restore power as soon as possible,” Mokammel said.

Deputy Commissioner M Kazi Emdadul Islam said a specialised committee would be formed to investigate the cause of the fire and assess damage.

Already, a four-member probe body, headed by the executive engineer of Sylhet Polli Bidyut Development and Distribution division-2, was formed to look into the matter. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three working days.