Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate electricity connections to 2,371 residents of eight former exclaves on October 15.
The Rural Electrification Board (REB) is set to provide electricity connections to former exclaves.
Of the 111 former exclaves, 52 fall under the jurisdiction of the REB and the rest under the Power Development Board. There is no need to provide power in 20 of the 52 under the REB as no-one leaves there.
Earlier the prime minister instructed the power distribution agencies concerned to provide electricity supply to the citizens of exclaves, which are now part of Bangladesh after the historic exchange with neighbouring India.
“From October 15, we will initially supply electricity connections to 2,371 families who live in the newly-added territories of Bangladesh. For that, we have already installed 44 kilometres of overhead power lines,” REB Chairman Brig Gen Moin Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Of the 2,371 families, 232 will get new connections in Nilphamari, 643 in Kurigram and the remaining 1,496 in Thakurgaon.
“We have got the prime minister’s consent to provide these new connections,” said the REB chairman.
“The REB will install 299 kilometres of overhead power lines for 11,032 consumers living in 32 former exclaves in Nilphamari, Kurigram and Thakurgaon. The government is spending around Tk30 crore to provide the new connections.”
According to Brig Gen Moin Uddin, the Palli Bidyut Samity will set up another 30,000 power distribution lines to provide power for 3 million more consumers across the country in the fiscal year 2015-16.
“We have a plan to bring electricity to all 20 million people of Palli Bidyut Samity’s coverage area by 2021.”
