50 Million People in Coastal Areas Without Electricity, Mobile and Internet Services Disrupted

Staff Reporter

Many districts have been flooded due to storms and heavy rains caused by a low pressure in the sea. Power supply was cut off in various districts, including the southwestern region and coastal areas, after power lines were damaged in the storm. As a result, at least 50 million consumers were left without electricity. To prevent accidents, connections were kept shut in many areas. The lack of electricity has disrupted mobile phone and internet services.

Abdur Rahim Mallik, member (distribution) of the Rural Electrification Board, said that at least 50 million of their consumers were left without power due to the two-day storm and heavy rains. However, power supply has been restored to a large portion of consumers by evening. Mobile phone towers that were out of service due to power outages have been reactivated. But power supply remains suspended in some isolated areas, and repair work on those lines is ongoing.

Meanwhile, mobile phone operators reported that, as of Friday, around 13,000 sites (towers) of three operators were out of service. These include 4,474 towers of Grameenphone, 3,020 of Banglalink, and 5,500 of Robi. However, by yesterday evening, 80 percent of these towers were back in operation.

Fayez Ahmad Taiyab, special assistant to the chief adviser for telecommunications and information technology, wrote on Facebook on Friday that telecommunication services across the country were being disrupted due to storms, tidal surges caused by the low pressure, and power outages. Workers from the Rural Electrification Board and telecommunication service providers are working tirelessly to restore the telecommunication network.

He wrote that the impact of the disaster was most severe in Barisal, southern Sylhet, Tangail, Chandpur, Mymensingh, northern Dhaka, Cumilla, Noakhali, and southern Chattogram. Electricity and mobile phone services in these areas have been disrupted.