Dhaka: After shutting down all of its diesel-run power plants last month, Bangladesh has been battling an extreme power shortage. The country has now announced that to tackle the problem it will close schools for one extra day a week and cut office timings by an hour.
The South Asian country last month shut down all 10 of its diesel power plants after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up the cost of imported fuel. It then started to cut power for two hours daily but many parts of the country go without electricity for much longer.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has decided that schools will remain closed for two days, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told reporters. Schools usually open six days a week and are closed on Fridays but the education ministry announced that they will now be shut on Saturdays as well.
The shut plants account for about 6% of Bangladesh’s total power generation capacity of 23,000 megawatts. Natural gas, locally produced and imported, generates nearly three-quarters of the total.
There is also a change in the timings of government offices. They will now open from 8 am-3 pm instead of the usual 9 am-5 pm, while banks will open from 9 am-4 pm rather than 10 am-6 pm.
Villages will get an uninterrupted power supply for irrigation from midnight to morning, he said. The government has also announced staggered weekly holidays for factories to save power.
The Bangladesh economy has been facing trouble for some time now. The foreign exchange reserves are dwindling due to inflated import bills, leading the government to seek loans from global agencies, including the International Monetary Fund.
