The power supply was restored across Bangladesh only after a seven hours of blackout following the national power grid failure on Tuesday.
A grid failure led to power outages across major Bangladesh cities since Tuesday afternoon. Power supply was restored in the capital city, Dhaka at about 6:00 PM, though many of the areas continue to remained without electricity.
People in Dhaka were seen rushing with canisters to purchase diesel for the generators as power failure continued for many hours in the city.
The national power transmission grid failed at 2:05 pm – causing blackouts across Bangladesh, except some parts of the north. The reason was ascribed to a ‘technical glitch’, according to the state-run Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB).
The power outage also impacted telecommunications and internet service as well as the supply of piped drinking water. Medical establishments weren’t spared either and operations had to be put off in hospitals in Dhaka. The official residences of the prime minister and the president too were not spared.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said in a 5:00 PM Facebook post that power supply was normal in some parts of the capital. “Restoration is a lengthy and complex process even if the power grid trips for a second,” his post read.
The power supply was restored across Bangladesh only after a seven hours of blackout following the national power grid failure on Tuesday.
Electricity was back in all the areas of Dhaka and other districts by 9:00 PM said Badruddoza Sumon, PGCB’s public relations officer.
The transmission line tripped somewhere in the eastern part of the country, according to officials at Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
Following the grid failure, all power plants tripped one after another and electricity supply went off in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Barishal and Mymensingh divisions.
People queued up for diesel to run generators, but the relief from the blackout was short lived as the fuel stations ran out of diesel. Authorities too asked the fuel stations to ration the supply of diesel as they wanted to keep fuel aside for other emergencies and to keep essential services like hospitals running.
PGCB announced the formation of a five-member inquiry committee to investigate the reason behind the grid failure on Tuesday that triggered a countrywide blackout for hours.
Image: Hippopx, licensed to use under Creative Commons Zero – CC0
