United News of Bangladesh

Sylhet is grappling with relentless load shedding – mainly triggered by the global energy crisis following the Middle East conflict – disrupting daily life and putting SSC candidates under mounting pressure just days before their exams begin on April 21. Officials said the crisis stems from a shortfall in electricity supply from the national grid due to reduced generation amid the global energy crisis, with no sign of immediate improvement. Residents and traders said electricity disruptions continue throughout the day and night. According to officials of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in Sylhet, there was a demand of 170 megawatts of electricity on Thursday in district, against which only 130 megawatts were supplied, leaving a deficit of 40 megawatts. However, common people claim that the real picture is far worse than official figures suggest. Many areas reportedly experienced more than seven hours without electricity within a 12-hour period on Thursday, till evening. Life on hold: 50,000 Rangpur people pay price for missing bridge The situation has become particularly alarming for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinees, who are struggling to study amid long power cuts and intense heat. Zakaria Talukder, a resident of Golapganj upazila, said students are facing serious difficulties as electricity remains unavailable for hours at a stretch. “If we get power for one hour, we stay in darkness for the next two,” he said. Businesses are also reeling from the power crisis. Traders said shops are already required to close by 7:00pm every day, and frequent outages throughout the day are further cutting into operating hours, leading to losses. Road woes deepen in Beanibazar as 250km fall into disrepair Matiur Rahman, a businessman, said frequent load shedding has pushed many factories to the brink of closure. “To keep production running, many are being forced to use diesel-powered generators, but diesel is also in short supply. As a result, costs have risen significantly without any increase in output.” Anwar Hossain, owner of a shopping complex at Zindabazar of the city, echoed Matiur Rahman. “We open late in the morning and close early in the evening. With constant load shedding, we are losing a significant portion of business time,” he said. Sources said the ongoing energy crisis, exacerbated by fuel shortages linked to the Middle East conflict, has led to limited electricity generation nationwide. Officials warned that load shedding could worsen if fuel supply is not stabilised. Chief Engineer of BPDB Sylhet division Mohammad Imam Hossain said demand has surged with rising temperatures, but generation has not kept pace. “As supply remains insufficient, load shedding is unavoidable. There is no immediate prospect of improvement unless national generation increases,” he added. Fuel crisis hits Rangpur, motorists spend hours in queues Since early April, load shedding has intensified across Sylhet, particularly in rural areas where outages last between six to eight hours daily. While urban areas receive somewhat scheduled power cuts, rural areas are experiencing prolonged and unpredictable outages. The government has enforced sweeping austerity measures such as early closure of shops, revised office hours, and partial online education to manage the situation, but these steps have yet to ease public suffering. Residents say the combined impact of extreme heat and persistent outages has made daily life increasingly difficult, especially for children, the elderly, and the sick.  

A number of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) students are worried as the university authority has decided to take the term-final examinations of its undergraduate students online this year. The students said final exams online cannot be a good option as most students reside in rural areas and face frequent electricity disruption and also a big portion of students haven't got enough logistical support to sit in final exams. Read: Buet students threaten class boycott if Abrar murder accused continues classes The decision of holding the exam online came from the academic council meeting of the university held on July 28. The exams will be taken through LMS and virtual meeting software (Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Moodle) and students will be provided letter grade based on both term-final examination and continuous assessment. The duration of each exam will be two hours and students will have to submit their answer sheets online through LMS software within 15 minutes of the end of the exam. Read Challenges of 4IR: DCCI, BUET ink MoC Exams will be taken, forming a group of up to 35 students for each test room (online meeting app) and two teachers will act as invigilators for each group or team. Students were asked to use two devices during the exam: one device for video monitoring and another to be used for exam purposes. Students will have to open cameras during the examination. Talking to UNB, students said most of them cannot manage two devices for exams and Internet connection disruption is a key barrier to sit online exams. Read: Abrar Fahad murder: Expelled Buet student joins online class after obtaining stay order The authorities should consider offline exams after ensuring speedy vaccination of all students, they demanded.