The Dhaka Electric Supply Company on Sunday momentarily cut off the electricity of the Bangladesh Cricket Board office at the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium for the second time in the last three months due to non payment of electric bills. DESCO said the BCB owes more than Tk 51 lakh to them in arrear electric bills, which was not paid despite repeated reminders. The power supply was, however, restored after three hours as the BCB promised to pay Tk 20 lakh at the earliest possible time.
Earlier on June 9, DESCO snapped electricity supply at the SBNS for the same reason. The BCB had to pay Tk 30 lakh out of Tk 81 lakh to DESCO to restore power supply on that occasion.
The BCB officials held the National Sports Council responsible for the entire saga, which they said put the Board in an embarrassing situation.
The BCB said electric bill included the bills of NSC-owned 86 shops and adjacent Krira Palli, a dormitory which is also under direct control of the NSC. It also included the bills of a newly-constructed staff quarter, which the Board is not supposed to pay.
BCB said it paid a total of Tk 3.48 crore as electric bill from September 2007 to May 2013 and a large part of this bill is due to power used by the NSC-owned shops and other NSC installations.
BCB said it had requested the NSC to separate electricity meters of the NSC installations and shops but it did not pay any heed.
When the BCB had increased the pressure on NSC to resolve the matter in April, the sports regulatory body surprisingly came up with a demand of Tk 17.15 lakh, which it said the BCB owed to the body in electric bill of some other cricket venues.
In a letter to BCB on May 9, the NSC said it paid Tk 51.36 lakh as electric bill for Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (from November 2006 to August 2007), Fatullah stadium, Bangabandhu National Stadium hospitality boxes and the BCB office on behalf of the Board.
On the other hand, the BCB paid only Tk 31.91 lakh for the NSC-owned shops and other installations, so it must pay them Tk 17.15 lakh now, claimed the NSC.
The BCB was stunned by the response and blamed NSC for only making the issue complicated. In a letter to the NSC on June 12, the BCB said the assessment is incorrect and there should be some tripartite talks between BCB, NSC and DESCO to resolve the matter.
However, the NSC did not give a reply, leaving the BCB to experience a blackout for the second time in three months.
-With New Age input
