A severe seasonal storm has left approximately 130 villages in the Matlab Dakshin upazila of Chandpur without electricity for 18 consecutive hours. The power outage, which began at 6:00 PM on Sunday, persisted until 12:00 PM on Monday, affecting an estimated 74,000 residents across the region.
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Infrastructure Damage and Technical Failure
The disruption was caused by a Kalbaishakhi (north-wester) storm that swept through the upazila, causing significant damage to the local power grid managed by the Palli Bidyut Samity. According to technical officials, the storm resulted in:
Tree Encroachment: Large bamboo clusters and trees collapsed onto the 33 kV high-tension transmission lines.
Structural Damage: Multiple utility poles were snapped or uprooted due to the force of the winds and falling debris.
Severed Lines: Numerous distribution wires were torn, necessitating extensive manual repairs across various locations in the upazila.
Impact on Residents and Students
The timing of the blackout proved particularly disruptive for students currently appearing for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. Candidates residing in the upazila headquarters reported that the lack of lighting prevented them from conducting essential revision on Sunday night.
Furthermore, the cessation of power during a period of high temperatures led to significant physical discomfort for the general population. In the Kaladi area, residents noted that the outage rendered electric fans inoperable and, more critically, halted water pumps. This led to a secondary crisis: a shortage of purified drinking water.
Official Response and Public Grievance
Engineer Md. Jasim Uddin, Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Upazila Palli Bidyut Samity, confirmed that the interruption was solely due to storm-related damage. He stated that maintenance teams were deployed immediately to repair the damaged lines and restore the connection as swiftly as possible.
However, some residents, including Jahangir Alam of Kaladi, expressed dissatisfaction with the utility provider’s communication. Local claims suggest that the Palli Bidyut Samity office was unresponsive to telephone inquiries during the crisis, exacerbating public frustration.
Incident Summary: Matlab Dakshin Power Outage
Contextual Data on Infrastructure
In rural Bangladesh, the 33 kV lines serve as the backbone of the distribution network for the Palli Bidyut Samity (Rural Electrification Board). These lines are frequently vulnerable during the pre-monsoon season (April–May) when north-wester storms are prevalent. While the DGM has assured that repairs are the priority, the scale of the damage—involving both poles and conductor wires—requires substantial manpower to rectify across a distributed rural geography.