Barisal’s Mehendiganj upazila has been plunged into darkness for five days after a submarine cable supplying electricity was damaged, leaving over 300,000 residents struggling to manage daily life.
Many households were relying on solar panels, candles, lamps, and generators, while mobile phone charging has become a major challenge, with people queuing for power.
Golam Rabbani, supervising engineer at the Rural Electrification Board (REB), said around 4.5km of submarine cable under the Dhormogonj River was cut when a cargo vessel anchored in the river damaged the line.
“This has disrupted power supply to over 300,000 people,” he added.
The outage was also affecting hospitals, schools, businesses, and administrative offices. At the upazila hospital, patients are suffering in the heat, with relatives fanning them manually due to the lack of electricity.
Efforts to repair the cable began on August 27, but mud and debris have made locating the damaged sections difficult. Divers and equipment from across the country, including Pirojpur and Khulna, have been deployed. Partial restoration of electricity is underway, but full supply depends on recovering or replacing the remaining cable sections.
The REB first began supplying electricity to the river-bound upazila through the submarine cable in 2004. This is the first time such a major disruption has occurred.
