Over 100,000 subscribers of Sylhet’s Power Development Board (PDB) and Rural Electrification Board still remain without electricity after 48 hours since a fire incident at a grid substation in the city that disrupted a transmission line.
Khandaker Mokammel Hossain, the chief engineer (sales and distribution) of Sylhet Power Development Board, said: “Power has been restored to 70% subscribers in Sylhet city as of 11am Thursday. Efforts are underway to restore power to the remaining 30% subscribers in the city.”
According to PDB sources, out of a total of 430,000 subscribers in the city as many as 129,000 subscribers are still out of power.
“A power transformer brought to Sylhet from Gazipur is being installed. Power supply will return to normal after installing the new transformer,” Mokammel said.
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Meanwhile, the prolonged power outage has triggered water shortages in many areas of the region. People are struggling to keep their cellphones on and are reporting internet issues.
The power cut has affected operations at hospitals and work at public and private offices. Only a small number of refuelling stations are open but they are struggling to provide fuel to customers. Sales of candles and bottled water have shot up.
Meanwhile, water supply has remained suspended during the blackout, putting city residents and patients at hospitals in trouble.
Earlier, two transmitters of the national grid line caught fire at a substation in Kumargaon of Sylhet around 11am on Tuesday.
