An explosion occurred at the Aminbazar 230 kV grid substation due to the continuous downpour early Friday, resulting in a fire that snapped electricity supply in the capital and its surrounding areas for at least three hours.
Officials confirmed that power supply returned to normal in all areas Friday morning, and it remains normal.
It has been reported that an explosion and fire occurred at the substation at 12:42am. Consequently, several areas, including Aminbazar, Kalyanpur, and Agargaon, were without electricity until 4:30am.
Various sources, including social media and Facebook traffic alert groups, reported that electricity supply was disrupted for about two to three hours in approximately 18 areas, including Savar, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, and Uttara.
Rana from Basila in Mohammadpur said in a Facebook post: "After spending the entire day stuck in traffic, there's no way for me to come home and relax in peace. There's no electricity at home."
Afrin Ahmed from Dhanmondi's Jhigatla shared in her Facebook post: "After experiencing multiple power outages since evening, it's now 3am, and there has been no electricity for two hours."
Additionally, there were reports of loadshedding issues in the Mirpur 10 and Pallabi areas Friday morning. Khadija Akhtar, a resident of Mirpur 10, mentioned that the power outage began at night and still persisted at 11am. She also highlighted the lack of water at home, expressing confusion about what to do.
In the afternoon, Dhaka Electricity Supply Company (Desco) Executive Engineer Zakir Hossain said: "The issue of load shedding has been resolved. We managed to address it early in the morning, though it took some time in certain areas. Currently, there are no more loadshedding problems. We supplied 842MW of electricity by 6pm on Friday.”
He further explained: "The power supply abruptly ceased from the Aminbazar Grid Substation at night and resumed after an hour and a half."
The official suggested that the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) could provide more insights into the problem at the Aminbazar station. However, he personally believed that the issue might be linked to the rain. Sometimes, during the onset of the monsoon season, sparks and even small explosions can occur when dust and dirt accumulate on power lines. Similar problems may occur in other lines as well.
DPDC Managing Director Bikash Dewan said: "A problem occurred at Aminbazar's 230 kV grid substation, leading to the shutdown of 132 kV substations in Mirpur, Agargaon, and Kalyanpur. Consequently, around 12:50am, power supply was interrupted in certain areas, including Dhanmondi, Asadgate, and the Ganabhaban area served by DPDC.
“Later, we managed to restore electricity to some areas in Keraniganj and Lalbagh around 2:30am. By 4:30 in the morning, full power supplies had been restored in all areas. During this period, about 25MW of loadshedding occurred. Currently, everything is back to normal, and there is no more loadshedding."
He also said: "Normally, such issues don't arise, but this unexpected incident at Aminbazar caused us to face this problem. The exact cause of the problem is still unknown. It could be related to heavy rain or some other issue. We are working on relocating the electricity transmission lines underground to benefit our customers and ensure a continuous electricity supply. We have already completed 30% of this work, and within the next 2 to 3 years, 100% of the electricity lines covered by DPDC will be underground."
What happened at Aminbazar Station?
Attempts to contact PGCB Managing Director AKM Gaus Mohiuddin Ahmed and Dhaka-North Grid Circle Supervising Engineer Mir Motahar Hossain for information on this matter were unsuccessful.
PGCB Public Relations Officer ABM Badruddoza Khan also could not provide details about the root cause of the problem.
ABM Badruddoza Khan told Dhaka Tribune that investigations are underway to determine the exact cause of the electrical issues at Aminbazar station and why they occurred. As of now, the precise reason for the problem remains unknown. However, it is suspected that the explosion may have been triggered by heavy rainfall or overflooding.
More information is expected after further investigation, but he assured that regardless of the cause, they were able to resolve the issue within a few hours, even in adverse weather conditions. The PGCB is committed to providing 100% service.
