Locals besiege Brahmanbaria power office over blackout

Seven lakh residents of Nabinagar upazila in Brahmanbaria have been suffering without electricity for four days as rural power officials and employees remain on mass leave to press home a four-point demand.

The outage has crippled trade, education and healthcare in the area, sparking public outrage. On Wednesday night, angry locals surrounded the Shyamgram Union sub-branch office, and on Thursday afternoon they laid siege to the Nabinagar Rural Electricity Zonal Office demanding immediate restoration of supply.

Around 1.4 lakh customers under the zonal office and its two sub-branches are directly affected. “We have received reports of power outages in some areas, but we are helpless as the officials and employees are on leave,” said Government AGM of Nabinagar Rural Power Zonal Office, Turya Mitra.

Deputy General Manager Md Wadud Hossain admitted it was impossible to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the strike.

Nationwide, about 45,000 officials and employees of 80 rural power associations have been on mass leave since September 7. The government has declared electricity an emergency service and ordered them back to work, but the directive is yet to be enforced.

MS/HKJ