Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday urged the country’s electricity consumers to adopt austerity measures in using electricity to reduce their bills so that power tariff hike would not create problem for them. “Adopt austerity measures to reduce electricity bills…use electricity the way you will be able to reduce electricity bills,” she said in Parliament in reply to a supplementary question from Rustom Ali Farazi (Pirojpur-3) during the PM’s question-answer session. Sheikh Hasina said that like the other countries of the world including the neighboring countries, the consumers would have to pay the power production cost. “It won’t work that you’ll use power, but won’t bear the generation cost and shout when the power tariff rises.” She said that if the consumers adopt austerity in using electricity, there would not be much problem for the consumers if the power tariff increases. The Prime Minister said a positive impact is seen in the country’s economy due to the increased power generation for which the economy is also getting a firm footing. She said that due to the proactive steps of the previous Awami League-led grand alliance government, including various quick, short-, mid- and long-term plans, the country’s power generation capacity now reached 11,000 MW. Mentioning that the power generation system is being diversified to boost power generation, Hasina told the House that a 1,300 MW coal-based power plant would be set up at Maheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar while another 1,300 MW coal-based power plant at Ramnabad near the Paira Port area. Besides, 50 lakh solar panels are being installed across the country where there are no grid lines, she said. – UNB
