DHAKA: Hundreds of thousands of people under the banner of the main opposition political party demonstrated Saturday in Bangladesh’s capital, protesting nationwide acute load shedding and unscrupulous price hikes of daily commodities.
Demonstrators said seven- to eight-hour load shedding has become an integrated part of daily life and sufferings amid a scorching heatwave that has “crossed the level of tolerance.”
“(Prime Minister) Sheikh Hasina fraudulently declared there is no power shortage in the country. But we face even seven to eight hours long load shedding in Dhaka and more than 10 hours long blackouts all over the country daily,“ Abdul Awal, a worker at the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told Anadolu Agency.
BNP leaders accused the Awami League government at the rally of collapsing every service sector in the country, including energy, through massive corruption and gross irregularities.
The United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported Saturday that Dhaka has alone been experiencing more than 600 MW (Megawatt) of load shedding during the daytime hours, citing official sources at the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
Regarding other parts of the country, it said Bangladesh has been seeing more than 2,000 MW of power shortage daily.
As a result, consumers are facing power outages for six to seven hours during the day, it said. -Bernama
