A severe and prolonged power interruption has left the residents of two villages in the Sreepur Upazila of Gazipur in a state of significant distress. For a continuous period exceeding 40 hours, the communities of Haydebpur and Jahangirpur have remained without electricity, following a destructive seasonal storm that struck the region in the early hours of Thursday, 7 May 2026. The outage has paralysed daily operations, disrupted the educational preparations of students, and created a critical shortage of potable water.
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Impact on Essential Services and Daily Life
The absence of electrical power has had a direct and detrimental impact on the local water supply. In these rural areas, residents rely heavily on electric-powered submersible pumps to extract groundwater for domestic use. With the pumps rendered inoperable, a severe water crisis has emerged. Residents have reported an inability to access water for drinking, cooking, or personal hygiene.
Local mosques have also been affected, with reports indicating that worshippers were unable to find water for ritual ablutions (wudu) prior to Friday prayers. The lack of traditional tube wells in certain vicinities has exacerbated the situation, leaving households with no alternative means of water collection.
Furthermore, the domestic storage of perishable foodstuffs has been compromised. Significant quantities of meat and fish stored in refrigerators have begun to spoil, leading to financial losses for many families. The psychological and physical burden has fallen most heavily on vulnerable demographics, including the elderly, infants, and those suffering from pre-existing health conditions, all of whom struggle with the lack of ventilation and sanitation in the summer heat.
Academic and Communication Disruptions
The timing of the power failure has proven particularly disadvantageous for students currently sitting for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. Without artificial lighting, evening study sessions have been curtailed, potentially affecting academic performance during this critical examination period.
Communication has also been severely hampered. As mobile telephone batteries have depleted without the means to recharge them, many residents find themselves isolated and unable to contact relatives or emergency services. This communication blackout has contributed to a sense of growing anxiety within the affected unions.
Official Response and Restoration Efforts
The outages fall under the jurisdiction of the Mymensingh Palli Bidyut Samity-2, specifically managed by the Kaoraid Sub-Zonal Office. According to technical assessments, the disruption was caused by Kalbaishakhi (north-wester) winds, which uprooted trees and branches, subsequently severing overhead power lines and destroying several electricity poles.
Mr Md Anisur Rahman, the Assistant General Manager (AGM) of the Kaoraid Sub-Zonal Office, provided a status update on the restoration efforts during a press briefing on Friday evening. He confirmed that the structural damage to the grid was extensive across multiple locations.
“The seasonal storm on Wednesday night caused trees to collapse onto our distribution lines, resulting in snapped wires and broken utility poles in various sectors,” Mr Rahman stated. “Contracted technical teams are currently on-site performing repairs. We remain hopeful that electrical connectivity can be restored to the affected areas by tonight.”
Resident Dissatisfaction and Local Feedback
Despite the assurances from the Palli Bidyut authorities, local residents have expressed frustration regarding the perceived pace of the recovery work. Shahidullah Khan, a resident of Haydebpur, remarked that the repair teams appeared to be working with a lack of urgency, given the magnitude of the crisis facing the village.
Similarly, Abdur Rahim Khan and Abul হোসেন highlighted that the 40-hour delay is unprecedented and has pushed the community to the brink of a humanitarian concern regarding water access. As of the evening of Friday, 8 May, repair crews remain active in the field, attempting to re-establish the primary lines connecting Kaoraid to the inland villages of Sreepur.