Eleven-Hour Power Cut Hits Two Upazilas

A prolonged electricity outage lasting around 11 hours in Roumari and Chhar Rajibpur upazilas of Kurigram district has triggered a severe breakdown in mobile network and internet services, leaving residents and businesses struggling to maintain basic communication and financial transactions.

Although power supply was restored at approximately 10:30am on Saturday (16 May), mobile connectivity across all major operators—including Banglalink, Grameenphone, Robi and Airtel—remained unstable and, in many areas, entirely unavailable at the time of reporting. Broadband and Wi-Fi services also collapsed during the disruption, compounding the communication crisis.

Local sources reported that the power failure began late on Friday night, around 11:00pm, following adverse weather conditions including thunderstorms and heavy rain. The outage persisted through the night and continued until Saturday morning. Even after partial restoration of electricity, mobile network infrastructure failed to resume normal operation due to technical interruptions and likely damage to supporting transmission systems.

By Saturday morning, between 8:00am and 11:00am, mobile phone users across both upazilas experienced a complete blackout of voice and data services. The disruption severely affected emergency communication, banking services, and online business activities.

Small traders, digital service providers and mobile financial service agents were among the worst affected. Many reported being unable to process transactions or respond to customer demands, resulting in significant commercial disruption during peak morning hours.

A local computer shop operator in Roumari described how the outage brought all online work to a standstill, noting that even after electricity was restored, the absence of network connectivity rendered business operations impossible.

Mobile banking agents in Dantbhanga bazar reported similar difficulties, stating that customers were unable to send or receive money, leading to queues and frustration among service users. Online entrepreneurs in Char Rajibpur also confirmed that all internet-based operations remained suspended despite the return of electricity.

Officials from the Jamalpur Rural Electrification Association’s Roumari zonal office attributed the disruption to storm damage. According to the Deputy General Manager, fallen trees brought down sections of power lines in several locations, forcing an immediate shutdown for safety reasons. Maintenance teams were deployed quickly, and electricity was gradually restored once major faults were repaired.

Summary of Disruption

Despite the restoration of electricity, full recovery of telecommunications infrastructure remained delayed, highlighting the dependency of digital services on stable power supply and resilient network systems in rural regions.