Hopefully the miasma of moratorium is over now as the government Thursday decided to give new power connections from May 15, in phases, to thousands in the queue having paid off the fees.
To begin with, the intending subscribers who have demand up to 500 kilowatts of electricity, and have already paid money against demand note, will see the much-sought-after light and power for moving the wheels of productive units.
Power and Energy Secretary Abul Kalam Azad came up with the good news after a meeting held at the Power and Energy Ministry secretariat on Thursday noon.
The secretary said, “An additional 700 megawatts of electricity would be needed to feed the new lines.”
In February, the government issued demand notes to one lakh applicants out of 388,000 who had applied for new connections. “Of them, many subscribers have already got the connections and some are on way to getting the connections,” Azad added.
Out of the 388,000 applicants, 30% in March, 30% in April and 40% in May will get demand notes, he told journalists.
Earlier in November last year, the government took decision to provide new connections, which had been halted after seven months.
Replying to a question, the power secretary said the decision would be taken later for the subscribers who have demand above 500KW electricity and got demand note in April and May.
The electricity generation would be increased in next two months, hoped the secretary, adding: “There will be no problem providing new connections as there is no need for additional power for Boro irrigation as the season is nearly over.”
According to Power Development Board (PWD), 4,350 megawatts of electricity was produced Wednesday against a known demand for 5,300 megawatts.
News Source:
BanglaNews24