State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has asked the officials concerned to take immediate steps to restore electricity to cyclone Amphan-affected areas across the country within 24 hours.  

He also asked the officials to take steps to supply electricity to hospitals through emergency generators, if necessary. 

The directives came from the junior minister against the backdrop of the report that around 20 million (2 crore) electricity connections, out of total 36.4 million (3.64 crore ) across the country, were cut off when cyclone Amphan hit the country’s south western region on Wednesday night. 

Also read: 20 million electricity connections cut off by Amphan

He gave the directives while holding a meeting with top officials of different subordinate bodies of Power Division on Thursday through videoconference.   

He also asked the officials to work through coordination among the power generation, distribution and transmission sections and take help of the Power Division.    

Power Secretary Dr sultan Ahmed, BPDB chairman Belayet Hossain, Power Cell Director General Mohammad Hossain and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Managing Director Golam Kibria also attended the virtual meeting.   

Meanwhile, the Power Cell director general informed UNB that the power utility bodies have been able to restore 50 percent of the connections until 2pm while work continues on remaining 50 percent.

He said that they are hopeful of restoring about 80 percent of the power supply in the cyclone affected areas within Thursday. 

Also read: Ensure uninterrupted power, gas during holidays : Nasrul to officials

Mainly the uprooted trees fell on the electricity transmission and distribution lines that led to the colossal disruption in power supply in the cyclone-hit areas, he told UNB.