Dhaka, Aug 13 — The ongoing energy crisis in Bangladesh has attracted public frustration as the government has ordered load shedding due to reduced power generation in the country, local media reported on Thursday.
Leading Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo noted that the offices of power distribution companies asked for help from police headquarters and law-enforcement agencies in many districts to increase security.
“The government has also changed the operating hours of shopping malls, markets and shops across the country as part of efforts to conserve electricity. Under the new schedule, these establishments may remain open from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm,” the newspaper reported.
The measures that took effect Wednesday include turning off illuminated billboards by 7 pm, while any type of decorative lights have been ordered to remain off entirely.
Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Iqbal Hassan Mahmud noted the government’s limited capacity, saying that there is no other option to manage the load shedding.
"All I want to say is, we are working... In this time of crisis, I have nothing to do. Because now I will not be able to extract gas or, without Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), I will not be able to extract the gas that I have," he was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo on Thursday.
The Bangladesh Rural Electricity Association wrote a letter to the police headquarters on Wednesday asking for increased security measures in 80 rural electricity associations in the country.
According to the association, public anger is increasing due to excessive load shedding in rural areas. It said that in some places substations are being attacked. The letter requested that security be provided in the substations and offices of rural electricity associations across the country. There are two floating terminals in Cox's Bazar to supply imported LNG.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Awami League has accused the ruling BNP government of pushing the country into an unprecedented energy crisis, saying it has continued the “fatal policy inertia” of the previous interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus. The party claimed that daily power outages lasting between six and 12 hours have made life increasingly difficult for people across the country.
Expressing grave concern over the situation, the Awami League said, “The crisis is no longer a temporary inconvenience; it is a full-blown systemic collapse. As record-setting power deficits paralyse major cities and regional districts alike, one question echoes across the global community: Can a civilised, developing nation truly function under such complete institutional failure?
Highlighting the immediate and devastating human and economic impact of prolonged load shedding, the party said that the energy crisis has disrupted personal lives, while affecting major sectors including education, healthcare, industry and the broader economy.
“Ordinary life has been reduced to a daily calculation of heat, darkness and scarcity. Families lose sleep. Small shops close early. Cooking and basic routines are disrupted for hours at a stretch. Education has been hit hard. Students across rural and semi-urban areas study by phone light or abandon evening work entirely. Digital learning tools built over the past decade are rendered useless during the longest cuts,” the Awami League stated.
“Industry and factories are losing production hours and competitiveness. Garment units in industrial belts report repeated multi-hour stoppages. Rice mills sit idle. Semi-intensive shrimp farms in Khulna face oxygen crashes when aerators fail, risking entire stocks. Irrigation pumps stop in Rajshahi and Natore. Manufacturers already coping with gas shortages now face a second energy failure, raising diesel costs and delaying export shipments,” it added.