Power Outage

Collected State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid

Cyclone Sitrang: Eight million customers left without electricity

Meanwhile, according to the latest news, at least two hundred trees have fallen on the road in Sitrang. Traffic is being disrupted.

Responding to a question about how many consumers are now without power due to Cyclone Sitrang, the state minister said, "We have about 48 million consumers. Now about eight million consumers are without power. More than 800 poles of the Rural Electrification Board have been damaged. In all, around 1,500-2,000 poles, including PDB, have been affected. We expect to provide electricity to around 70 per cent customers by this afternoon."

"We haven't had a major hit in transmission. The major hit has been in distribution. There's been snapping of wires. Uprooted trees have damaged lines. Poles have fallen, broken in many places. There's been problems in a lot of places. Due to its rupture, we have completely shut off the electricity in the affected area. There is a risk of accident, we will not restore the electricity until it is completely fixed."

Asked how long it will take for the complete solution, he said, "We expect to be able to supply power to 100% customers by noon tomorrow. Our workers are working, especially the RAD has been on alert since the onset of the storm. Now they are working 24 hours a day. Especially RAD and PDB."

Bhola, Patuakhali, Barisal, Chandpur, Chittagong, Laxmipur, Noakhali have suffered huge damage, said the state minister.

How much money was lost? In response to such questions, he said, "The amount of money is with us at the moment. We do not want to say that matter now. There has been a lot of damage. Especially the water has risen in the substations."