Load-shedding returns to Sylhet after polls

A few days prior to the Sylhet city polls, held yesterday, load-shedding had become a thing of the past.

But just the day after the polls, frequent load-shedding returned to the city, with blackouts observed in several areas for three to four hours. 

However, PDB Sylhet Chief Engineer Abdul Qadir said the lack of load-shedding had more to do with the rains, which resulted in cooler temperature and less electricity demand.

Abdur Rahman, a resident of Sylhet's Ghasitula, said, "The few days before the vote were quite good. There was no load-shedding in the city. However, load-shedding started again the day after the polls. Our vote has been taken…now they don't need to keep us informed. So loadshedding has started"

During the Sylhet City Corporation election campaign, load-shedding dominated discussions as electricity outage had been plaguing the country in the run up to the polls.

Newly-elected Mayor Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, even went to the Power Development Board's office on 18 April and held a meeting with the officials. 

He also spoke to other relevant officials.

Since, election campaign began on 2 June, load-shedding had also decreased, reaching almost zero till voting on Wednesday.

But power outages returned on Thursday.

According to the Sylhet office of Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB), the electricity demand in Sylhet on Thursday was 171.5 megawatts and the supply was 113.5 megawatts. 

A senior Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) official said on the day of the election, urban areas were ordered to be load-shedding-free and now that the election is over, the situation has returned to normal.