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Loadshedding dampens Eid shopping in Barisal

From Aroop Talukdar
BARISAL. Jan 29: Continuous crisis of power supply and loadshedding is hitting hard in every sectors In the southern districts of Barisal. Patuakhali. Bhola. Pirojpur. Jhalakathi and Barguna under Barisal division like elsewhere In the country.
Due to erratic power supply almost all the big and small traders and businessmen of various types are suffering much particularly in this Eid season' as they can not continue their business in the evening and till midnight like the previous years.
Abdus Salam, a retail cloth trader in the busiest commercial area. Chawk Bazar' of the town said, "we always fear when loadshedding will suddenly engulf the area. Normally, we consider between noon and 10 in the night as business peak time. So when loadshedding continuous during this time, we feel very disturbed for different reasons. Security is also being hampered in the darkness, he, added.
Mohammad Hossain, a cro-kerles shopowner said. "It is very disappointing that power supply is disrupted during the peak time of our business.
Irregular power supply also hampered production at industrial units in the southern re glon. The actual demand of electricity in Barisal PDB region, comprising of 9 districts, is about one hundred megawatts supply of power at present in
this region is between 30 and 40 MW a day.
Patuakhali and Barguna districts are worst affected where maximum loadshedding is continued for days together. As a result, ice plants located at the coastal areas fail to produce necessary ice for the fishermen. This problem becomes acute in
the fishing seasons.
SSC examination is nearing Thousands of candidates are suffering from loadshedding problems.
Meanwhile, agitated people from different places of Barisal. Patuakhali. Jhalakathi and Pirojpur districts ransacked and damaged some local PDB offices. TNO offices and other government offices protesting erratic power supply and demanding immediate regularisa tion of electricity.
In some places. PDB employees including the engineers were manhandled and were assaulted physically.
Some PDB substations at thana headquarters were guarded by police. Hurricane procession was brought out In Barguna district headquarters a couple of days ago.
In Barisal district headquarters Nagarik Committee" gave ultimatum to the PDB authority to regularise supply of electricity within a week. Failure of which, residents of Barisal town will stop payment of electricity bills.
A PDB source said that due to some unavoidable reasons like shortage of production of elec trlcity in some power generation plants in Haripur. and two other places, the power supply is being affected.
Shortage of electricity will persist in the coming summer season. By that time requirement of electricity will be increased to more than 2.600 MW