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Load-shedding in Bangladesh is expected to ease significantly in the coming days, Prime Minister’s Adviser for Information and Broadcasting Dr Zahed Ur Rahman said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Secretariat on government activities, he said the authorities were trying to distribute the burden of the ongoing power shortage more evenly between urban and rural areas.
“Hopefully, the level of load-shedding will come down considerably within a very short time,” he said, citing efforts to address the fuel supply situation.
Zahed said Dhaka was currently experiencing load-shedding because the government had moved away from the previous practice of ensuring uninterrupted electricity in major cities while putting a heavier burden on rural areas.
He said the government was adjusting supply under DPDC and DESCO in Dhaka so that no area faces prolonged outages, allowing saved electricity to be redirected to rural areas and other parts of the country.
According to the adviser, the current power shortage has been driven by fuel constraints, unexpected power-plant faults, maintenance work, transmission-grid limitations and rising demand.
He said electricity demand had increased with the expansion of economic activity since the elected government took office.
Zahed added that the current difficulties were temporary and that the government was taking steps to reduce the burden of load-shedding across the country.