Bhola has been without power since Saturday night after the 34.5MW gas-fired power plant there closed down following technical glitches.
The Bhola-Patuakhali under-river submarine cable is also not working for the last 15 days due to technical disruptions – so it has been not been possible to draw power from the national grid, officials said.
At least 1.8 lakh Bhola residents, including those in the town and its five other municipal settlements, remain uncertain about when the power will be restored. Until then, even key civic services like drinking water and hospitals will be affected.
“We are not able to generate power because of faults in the generator,” said Bhola Rental Power Plant executive Hafizur Rahman.
The generator has been installed by India’s Alstom company.
“We have informed them and only after they send their technician to repair the generator can power be restored in Bhola,” Rahman said.
Executive engineer (electrical) Mohammed Ali said it was not possible to draw power from the national grid because of the fault in the Bhola-Patuakhali submarine cable. “Even the 2MW generator in Bhola Power House is also out of order.”
Ali said they were trying to repair the submarine cable. “We hope we can fix it soon enough to restore power to Bhola.”
The West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited, that covers Bhola, is trying to locate the fault in the submarine cable, its executive engineer Abdul Majed said. “But it has not yet been possible.” – bdnews24.com
