Long queues of people carrying drums and portable large pots were seen at various petrol pumps of the capital on Tuesday afternoon due to a sudden power outage.
The queues, for loose diesel to be used in generators, grew exceedingly long as the power supply could not be restored in a few hours.
Emergency services like healthcare at hospitals were disrupted due to the outage, causing people to rely on generators.
“Due to the high demand for diesel, sales of the fuel oil finished within hours and many buyers failed to collect it,” Nazmul Haque, president of Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association, told UNB.
He said only 25% of about 40 pumps in Dhaka city sell diesel, while the remaining 75% do not, as they sell only octane and petrol.
He added that many pumps could not collect adequate quantities of diesel from depots as some of their employees are on leave for Durga Puja.
As a result, some pumps which sell diesel also failed to cope with the extra pressure, Nazmul said.
Dhaka and many other parts of the country experienced a power outage after 2pm due to some problems in the transmission lines. Following this, the authorities had to shut down a number of power plants.
People were also seen buying candles in bulk in the evening for their homes and shops.