Water, power shortage prompts people to take to streets
Almost all parts of the city continued to face 10 to 12 hours of power outage in the sweltering heat.
Water and power shortage has hit hard the city which forced residents in different areas to go out on demonstrations on Tuesday.The residents demanded immediate steps for uninterrupted supply of water and power as they had to remain awake for supply water at night and also could not sleep in the sweltering summer heat.
Residents of Mohakhali on Tuesday blocked a road stretch for an hour demanding water supply. The blockade caused heavy traffic congestion in the area. Residents of posh Gulshan area in the evening also sat at a meeting to chart out their course of action to get supply water.
Residents of Mohakhali on Tuesday blocked a road stretch for an hour demanding water supply. The blockade caused heavy traffic congestion in the area. Residents of posh Gulshan area in the evening also sat at a meeting to chart out their course of action to get supply water.
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2010/04/07/26301
Power crisis in the city has, meanwhile, aggravated over a few days although five fertiliser plants have been closed to divert more gas to power plants as a number of power units went out of operation for technical faults.
Witnesses and the police said more than 400 people, holding pitchers and buckets, had taken to the streets in front of Titumir College about 11:00am.The demonstrators alleged they had not been getting supply water for four days. They called off their blockade on assurances from the water supply agency that the matter would be resolved soon.
The authorities hoped that the supply water situation would improve after the army officially starts helping Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority in easing the persisting water crisis in the capital from today.A cabinet meeting on March 29 decided to deploy army men in aid of WASA on April 1 to ensure smooth supply of water in city areas facing shortage.
The Dhaka WASA now produces 185 crore to 190 crore litres of water a day whereas the demand has increased to 225 crore litres in recent days because of increase in temperature.
Residents living on Gulshan Road 24 /30 alleged they had not been getting water over three weeks.
Power crisis in the city has, meanwhile, aggravated over a few days although five fertiliser plants have been closed to divert more gas to power plants as a number of power units went out of operation for technical faults.
Witnesses and the police said more than 400 people, holding pitchers and buckets, had taken to the streets in front of Titumir College about 11:00am.The demonstrators alleged they had not been getting supply water for four days. They called off their blockade on assurances from the water supply agency that the matter would be resolved soon.
The authorities hoped that the supply water situation would improve after the army officially starts helping Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority in easing the persisting water crisis in the capital from today.A cabinet meeting on March 29 decided to deploy army men in aid of WASA on April 1 to ensure smooth supply of water in city areas facing shortage.
The Dhaka WASA now produces 185 crore to 190 crore litres of water a day whereas the demand has increased to 225 crore litres in recent days because of increase in temperature.
Residents living on Gulshan Road 24 /30 alleged they had not been getting water over three weeks.
Our daily life has become miserable as we have not received supply water for three weeks and we keep facing frequent power outages,Asif Ibrahim, a director of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and resident of the area, told New Age after the meeting at the New King Kitchen restaurant at Gulshan.We are making preparations for a signature campaign and will submit a memorandum to the WASA authorities to press home our demand for the installation of a deep tube well, he said.
Anwar Hossain, a resident of Shewrapara in the city, told New Age they could not sleep throughout the night as they had to wait for supply water. �We get water for only an hour or two at night. We pass sleepless nights as we do not know when we will get water. Sometimes we get water at 1:00am and sometimes at 4:00am.�
Sarwar Alam, a government official who lives at Khilgaon in Dhaka, said he could not sleep properly because of power outage. �Usually I go to bed at 11:00pm and wake up at 6:00am to go to office. But these days, we face four hours of power outages between 11:00pm and 6:00am. It is difficult to sleep in the sweltering heat without power,� he said.
Power outages in the city have also increased as two 210MW units of the Ghorashal power plant and a 225MW unit of the private Meghnaghat power plant had been out of operation for a few days.
Because of the closure of such large power units, there was little improvement in the power generation despite the closing of five fertiliser plants.Almost all parts of the city continued to face 10 to 12 hours of power outage in the sweltering heat.
The power secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, told New Age on Tuesday they could not get power up to their expectations after the closing of fertiliser plants as some large power units had tripped.As many of our power plants are very old, some of the units often go out of operation. We hope that the situation will improve in three to four days,� he said.
Power generation has hovered around 3800MW against a peak demand for 5,500MW�6,000MW for two days.
The Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited, which covers Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Dhaka (south) and Narayanganj, has a demand for 1,200MW but gets about 650MW.
The Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited, which covers Mirpur, Shyamali, Gulshan, Badda, Dhaka (north) and Tongi areas, gets about 300MW�350MW against the demand for about 585MW.
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/apr/07/front.html
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