Editorial
Lingering power crisis
Take public into confidence on action plan
From all the discourses that we are getting to hear on the power situation prevailing in the country the impression we get is that the government is not moving fast or diligently enough to reduce the suffering of the people caused by constant power outages. And one does not even have the correct figure of actual shortage of electricity since there is an 'official' and an 'unofficial' figure. Taking the government statistic as a datum, the current shortfall remains high in spite of the 700 megawatt of additional capacity provided in the last three months; and the peak season has not yet come.
We do not know what the exact government short term plans are to address the problem. And not knowing what is in store for the people in terms of the likely suffering they would have to endure, makes the problem that much harder to face.
It is a case of the power sector being caught in a trap of rising demand for electricity, according to some statistics around eight percent per year, and the Petrobangla's inability to provide the prime source of energy to fire the power plants -- gas.
One couldn't emphasise more the need for the authorities to deal with the problem head on. The long and short of the issue is that there is no alternative in the short term, apart from regulating system loss and gearing up the distribution system, than to provide the power plants with adequate gas. And the authorities should ensure that the government power plants are treated at par in terms of gas supply vis a vis the private sector.
It is time too, we feel, the government takes the public into confidence and lets them in on what are its immediate plans to ameliorate the situation. We can see that the problem is enormous and needs not months but years to be solved. But in terms of load shedding which is becoming extremely unpredictable, the consumers would be better served if they are informed in advance of the area wise plans with duration of power cut indicated, as far as practicable. The people should also be informed about various ways to save electricity.
In this regard a private interest information service could be set up wherein the services of the TV channels, cable TV operators, FM radio stations and newspapers could be employed for disseminating information.
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