State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid yesterday reiterated that some measures have been taken for improving power supply situation by tomorrow, reports UNB. "We hope, the power situation will improve and come to a near-normal position by Saturday as we have taken some measures," he told reporters while briefing them on the power supply situation at Biduyt Bhaban in the city. Mentioning the measures taken by the government to improve power supply situation, the state minister said some fertiliser factories have been shut down to divert gas supply to power plants while CNG refueling stations will remain closed during the peak hours from 3pm to 10 pm every day during Ramadan like the previous years.
The heavy load consuming industries like steel and re-rolling mills will remain shut during the peak hours, while shopping malls have been asked to reduce power consumption during iftar and tarabi prayers.
Early this week, he had said the power supply situation will improve within 3-4 days. The junior minister, however, declined to term the nagging power cuts as load-shedding. "It's not load-shedding, it's load-sharing."
Nasrul Hamid’s assurance of improving the situation came against the frequent disruptions in power supply across the country.
The frequent power cuts amid the heat wave aggravated the situation further as many people are falling sick due to the unbearable heat.
The state minister said the collapse of some power transmission towers by recent storms and the shutdown of 400 MW Meghnaghat power plant have led to the current situation.
These two incidents have created a gap of 800MW between power generation and supply, he noted.
Secondly, he said, some private power plants were shut for the maintenance work recently which also led to the shortfall in the generation side.