Adani's 700 MW unit shut down fuels load shedding more in rural areas than Jessore city

Amid the country's electricity production deficit, production of a unit of India's Adani Power has been halted. Due to a technical glitch, around 750 megawatts of electricity is now being supplied from the Adani plant, which was over 1,500 megawatts the day before yesterday (22 April).

As a result, load shedding has been increased in Jessore, like the rest of the country, due to power supply reduction from Adani.

Load shedding in rural areas has become worse than in the city of Jessore. There is load shedding for at least 4-5 hours a day in the urban areas, while the villagers are facing 7-8 hours of load shedding in 24 hours. Consequently, people are suffering a lot under the scorching summer heat, especially SSC candidates who are in extreme distress.

Ajmal Hossain, a farmer from Rohita village in Monirampur upazila of Jessore, said, "There were at least 7-8 times load shedding between 6am and 7pm yesterday. Each time, the load shedding lasted for an hour and a half. We are facing a similar power crisis in our village for the last few days."

Golam Mostafa of Matikumra village in Jhikargachha upazila said, "As Jessore is now experiencing mild heat, it is really unbearable to tolerate the ongoing heat.  Meanwhile, we have to irrigate our paddy fields, but we are facing frequent load shedding."

Regarding load shedding, Deputy General Manager Moniruzzaman of Pallibidyut Samity-Jessore said, "A 700 MW unit of Adani has been shut down. It might take another three to four days to resume its operation. This has increased the power supply deficit. Yesterday, our demand was 161 MW, but we received 103 MW of supply. The deficit was 58 MW."

West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited supplies electricity to Jessore city. There is load shedding in Jessore city for one to one and a half hours every day and night due to power outages. People are suffering from the intense heat in the wake of frequent power outages.

Asma Jahan, an SSC examinee in the Bakchar Hushatala area of the city, said, "Our exams are going on, but we are experiencing severe load shedding for the last few days. As a result, I am not able to study properly in such heat."

In this regard, Executive Engineer of West Zone Power Distribution Company Nasir Uddin said, "The total demand for electricity in Jessore city is 56 MW. We received 45 MW on Thursday, causing more load shedding. However, we hope that load shedding will be reduced once the Adani plant becomes operational."

According to BPDB sources, a warning signal was received from the bearing of a unit of Adani's power plant in India after midnight on Tuesday. After that, production of that unit was immediately stopped.

Adani's coal-fired power plant in the Indian state of Jharkhand has a capacity of 1,600 megawatts. PDB signed a power purchase agreement with Adani in 2017. There are two units there, each with a capacity of 800 megawatts. According to the agreement, Bangladesh will buy power from Adani's plant for 25 years.