The capital’s streets were engulfed in darkness yesterday as dusk gave way to pitch black because of a nationwide power outage that lasted for more than six hours.
Although the power failure began around midday, its effect became apparent as electric street lamps and house lights failed to come on as the sunlight faded into night.
Many buildings and most streets were poorly lit and smaller alleyways were completely dark. High rises loomed as shadowy silhouettes against the sky, and the sound of generators roared across the darkened streets of Dhaka.
The outage, triggered by a surge in electricity supply from India, disrupted water supplies along with power in many parts of the city.
Although the blackout began around 11:30am, many did not experience problems until much later in the day.
“This is a big problem for our sales,” said Mustafa, a salesman at Euro Bath, a store in Hatirpool. “We have only had a couple of people come in since dusk, and that is not our usual number of clients.”
“Our lights are being powered by the central generator at New Market,” said a New Market shopkeeper. “But we have had very few clients since sunset. Many people do not want to come out because they feel unsafe.”
Tasneem, who lives in Gulshan, says she had to rush her chores at Priyangon market in order to make sure she would be out of the mall before sunset.
“With two days of hartal ahead, this was was my only chance to get some chores done at the markets. But I had to rush because I would not be able to do anything in the market after sunset,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.
Institutions such as Shishu Park were completely dark immediately after sunset.
“We stay open till 7pm, and usually there are people who hang around for a bit after that. But today most people left quite early,” said Azad Hossain, a security guard at the amusement park.
He said they had warned people coming in that there was a power outage and many rides would not be open.
Aditya Nandi, a student who lives in Jagannath Hall at Dhaka University, said there was neither electricity nor water since 11:30am. Most students were spending time outside of the halls. Those with exams to prepare for were studying in candle light.
