Rural areas face more power outages than urban areas: DCs

The deputy commissioners on Thursday alleged that rural areas are having more power outages than the urban areas and that they are under constant pressure from the ruling partymen seeking lease of the sand and stone quarries in their districts.
The heads of the district administration made the allegations at a meeting with the power ministry high ups who included prime minister’s adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and state minister for power and energy Shamsul Haque Tuku.
A number of DCs alleged that most rural areas face up to 18 hours of load shedding every day while the authorities supply additional power to urban areas that also experience four to five hours of load shedding a day.
The deputy commissioner of Narayganj alleged that many electricity consumers were getting inflated bills after the creation of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited by turning Dhaka Electric Supply Authority into a company last year.
Deputy commissioners from greater Sylhet and some northern districts complained that ruling partymen were creating pressure on the local administration to secure the sand and stone quarries to themselves.
Tawfiq and Tuku suggested the DCs to sit with the officials of the Power Development Board and Rural Electrification Board to adjust power supply in the rural areas.
They also asked the DCs to ensure that the shops outside the capital close their daily operation by 8:00pm. ‘Although most of the shops in the capital follow the evening ban, shops outside the capital remain open after 8:00pm,’ said Tuku.
After the meeting, Tuku told reporters that the evening ban on shops would remain in place during Ramadan.
He said that DCs were also asked to follow the ban in their areas and distribute properly the energy saving bulbs the government would provide for consumers.
He said that the DCs were asked to follow the existing rules and regulation in leasing out sand and stone quarries. ‘We want that no untoward situation arises over the issue,’ he said.
Tuku said that the present power crisis was the result of inaction in last seven years and claimed that they had taken initiatives to provide sufficient electricity and create a load shedding free Bangladesh by the year 2014.

Courtesy of NewAgebd