ELECTRICITY : A WARNING SIGN!

A couple of days ago I was having this online conversation with one of my friends in USA and he told me 'Does it really take 37 years to solve the problem of power crisis?' All I could tell him that due to inefficient governance we always lagged behind. We never had someone who could aggressively worked for the betterment of the country. Today, even after 37 years of independence, when we look at our nation all we can see is that, all kinds of infrastructure are falling apart.

We have now severe problems with water, security, gas and electricity. Many experts once said that Bangladesh is floating on gas. And now the country is so much in shortage of gas that it is thinking of importing. Above all these problems, power crisis is the major one which has made the people suffer since beginning of the country's birth.

It is being predicted that there will be even more power shortages in near future because there is shortage of gas and coal to generate electricity and it is too much difficult for a developing country like us to import diesel at high prices to generate power.

There is a shortfall of producing around 500 Megawatt of electricity Due to shortage of gas. It is heard from the experts that due to shortage of gas the planning for building 17 more power plants within the next four years may come to a halt.

Even in this rainy season, except in the diplomatic areas, electricity go out frequently almost everywhere. According to Power Development Board (PDB), the country needs around 5000 Megawatt of electricity in pick hour. But PDB says that in pick hours around 3,300 to 3,400 Megawatts of electricity are being produced now.

Has any of our Government taken any stern steps to reduce power failure? Due to lack of gas supply there is a daily shortfall of producing 500 Megawatt of electricity.

Government must look for alternative solutions to this long term problem. They must look for alternatives to gas so that electricity problem is solved once and for all.