2 lakh Bulbul victims still without power
Authorities have failed to restore power to thousands of villages in
the remote parts of Barishal, Pirojpur, Beghrhat and Barguna until
Friday, six days after the cyclone Bulbul lashed the districts and many
other areas in coastal Bangladesh.
Over 2,00,000 people were still without power in almost 24 upazilas in the districts as the Rural Electrification Board struggles to clear uprooted trees burying snapped power lines.
The south-western districts took the brunt of the storm after it had made landfall on the Sunderbans coasts between Sagar Island in West Bengal and Bangladesh Saturday late night.
‘The storm had affected our entire power network of 10,000 km,’ Pirojpur Palli Bidyut Samity general manager Mofizur Rahman told New Age.
He said huge trees fell on power lines taking down hundreds of power poles.
He said 1,200 people have been on the power line restoration work ever since the storm that left behind a trail of devastation.
About 1,00,000 of 3m76,000 consumers of the board in Pirojpur are still living without power.
The board control room said power lines were snapped at 3,500 spots in a stretch of 2,600 km in Pirojpur.
Over 500 electric poles were broken by the storm that also damaged 1,200 household electric meters.
In Bagherhat, the board personnel were working to repair power lines snapped at 1,825 points over a stretch of 1,500 km power lines.
‘Our people are working night and day to restore power at the earliest,’ said Madhab Kumar Roy, inspector at the board’s control room.
Barishal Palli Bidyut Samity-1 deputy general manager Ananda Kumar Kundu said some of the affected areas were hard to reach where it took a day for a dozen people to restore a single pole.
Some of the areas can only be reached through boats and need new poles which would have to be carried on boats, he said.
About 60 poles were still broken in upazilas under the Barishal Palli Bidyut Samity – 2.
The samity offices in the affected areas said it might take another four days to fully restore power in some of the worst affected areas.
They said emergency services remained uninterrupted because of their priority to restore power supplies to institutions like hospitals, police stations and outposts.
Immediately after the storm, the board had said the storm had affected 45,000 km of their power network and caused them damage worth Tk 15 crore, pulling over 2000 electric poles, destroying 308 power transformers and 1,200 household electric meters, and snapping power lines at 15,000 points.
The storm had affected the national grid as well disrupting power supplies to Barishal and Patuakhali.
The storm had rendered 32 out of 72 feeders of the West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited.
The feeders were restored in the next three to four days as they are located in areas easily accessible in towns.
The storm also killed 22 people and damaged more than a million houses as it cut its path.
Over 2,00,000 people were still without power in almost 24 upazilas in the districts as the Rural Electrification Board struggles to clear uprooted trees burying snapped power lines.
The south-western districts took the brunt of the storm after it had made landfall on the Sunderbans coasts between Sagar Island in West Bengal and Bangladesh Saturday late night.
‘The storm had affected our entire power network of 10,000 km,’ Pirojpur Palli Bidyut Samity general manager Mofizur Rahman told New Age.
He said 1,200 people have been on the power line restoration work ever since the storm that left behind a trail of devastation.
About 1,00,000 of 3m76,000 consumers of the board in Pirojpur are still living without power.
The board control room said power lines were snapped at 3,500 spots in a stretch of 2,600 km in Pirojpur.
Over 500 electric poles were broken by the storm that also damaged 1,200 household electric meters.
In Bagherhat, the board personnel were working to repair power lines snapped at 1,825 points over a stretch of 1,500 km power lines.
‘Our people are working night and day to restore power at the earliest,’ said Madhab Kumar Roy, inspector at the board’s control room.
Barishal Palli Bidyut Samity-1 deputy general manager Ananda Kumar Kundu said some of the affected areas were hard to reach where it took a day for a dozen people to restore a single pole.
Some of the areas can only be reached through boats and need new poles which would have to be carried on boats, he said.
About 60 poles were still broken in upazilas under the Barishal Palli Bidyut Samity – 2.
The samity offices in the affected areas said it might take another four days to fully restore power in some of the worst affected areas.
They said emergency services remained uninterrupted because of their priority to restore power supplies to institutions like hospitals, police stations and outposts.
Immediately after the storm, the board had said the storm had affected 45,000 km of their power network and caused them damage worth Tk 15 crore, pulling over 2000 electric poles, destroying 308 power transformers and 1,200 household electric meters, and snapping power lines at 15,000 points.
The storm had affected the national grid as well disrupting power supplies to Barishal and Patuakhali.
The storm had rendered 32 out of 72 feeders of the West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited.
The feeders were restored in the next three to four days as they are located in areas easily accessible in towns.
The storm also killed 22 people and damaged more than a million houses as it cut its path.
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