Eid holiday gives short term respite
Power outages in Dhaka
Faisal Mahmud
Its a regular feature for the residents of Khajidewan locality in the Lalbagh area of Dhaka to live with lifeless lights, fans, televisions and all other things that run on electricity for at least two-three hours every day.
However, during the last three days, it was a pleasantly different experience. There were no power cuts, even for half an hour in the last three days. Who would say that we had hours of power cut until just a few days back? Even the water supply was much better, said Rashed Jitu, a resident of Khajidewan.
Ahsanuzzaman Khan, a pharmacist by profession, had a different reason to be happy. It took me less than half an hour to reach Gulshan from Dhanmondi. I actually forgot for a long time that driving can be fun, he said. Over the last four days, many Dhaka residents like them have experienced virtually no power failures, water shortages or traffic jams things that 16 million residents of the city thats spread over 360 square kilometres live with on daily basis. All thanks to the Eid holidays. With an estimated 6 million Dhaka residents away for the Eid holidays to the country side, the consumption of utility services in the capital was reduced to almost half, giving the rest a welcome respite from the prolonged supply shortages that have been plaguing the city.
With all those people being away, the infamous traffic jams of Dhaka almost vanished, except for a few minor ones around the recreational spots in the capital. But the continuous rain over the last three days dampened the enthusiasm of many to even visit those recreational places.
With electricity and water shortages and traffic jam now a fact for life, it was a welcome change for Dhaka residents. They enjoyed the uninterrupted supply of utility services and jam-free roads during the Eid holidays. According to sources in the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), the amount of electricity consumed during the Eid holidays was around 1,200-1,400 MW compared to the regular demand of around 1,800-2200 MW.
You didnt hear about complaints of power outages this time as about half the population was away from the city, said Saiful Islam Chowdhury, Director Communication, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The city has just too many people on regular days to ensure uninterrupted power supply to all, he added.
Meanwhile, city residents who spent the entire month of Ramadan amid acute water crisis had little to complain against Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA).
During Ramadan, water crisis was so acute in several parts of the city that many people found it difficult to get water even from the mobile water supply cars of WASA as they too were in short supply due to the increased demand.
During the Eid holidays, the demand for water too saw a dramatic decrease. The city that requires well over 250 crore litre of water everyday consumed an average of around 110 crore litre during the Eid holidays, said Kamrul Alam Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director, WASA. He also said that most of the water consumed during Eid holidays was for household use and not for industrial or commercial purpose.
That also helped reduced the demand for water because of which we could ensure smooth water supply across the capital, he added.
With half of Dhaka population off the roads, almost three-fourth of the city buses remained inside the terminals, freeing up vital road space. We will resume regular service from Sunday. Right now there are few buses on the road, said Raifqul Islam Kajal, President of Association of Bus Companies (ABC).
Traffic jams dont occur in Dhaka due to public buses. There was a traffic jam on Mirpur Road even on the Eid day due a large number of private cars. Its the private cars that create jam in Dhaka. However, the Eid holidays are a welcome break for all of us, he said.
