AMN / WEB DESK
Bangladesh announced a country wide load shedding upto two hours daily starting from Tuesday to save energy and fuel in view of the crisis caused by the Ukraine war. The load shedding will be carried out initially for about a week and if it is not sufficient, the government will increase the duration of the load shedding, said State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid. The minister said that the government will not buy gas from the international market as prices have increased abnormally.
The government has also decided to shut down the diesel-fired power generation plants temporarily to minimise power crisis caused by the rise in fuel price in the international market. The State Minister said that the measure will help save a substantial amount of gasoline.
Prime Minister’s Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury told media in Dhaka on Tuesday that the power shortfall of around 1000-1500 MW has forced the authorities to go for load shedding throughout the country periodically. He further said that filling stations in the country will also be shut down once a week. He however, assured that the decision is temporary and full production of electricity will be resumed immediately after the improvement in the global situation. He said that the government will take further decisions after observing the situation for a week.
Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus said that the government has also decided to make government and private offices virtual to save electricity. The government is also considering reducing timings in the government offices to save electricity, reports the official news agency BSS.