'Bulbul' aftermath: Power sector incurs Tk 180m damage

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Shanchita Shitu
Published : 22:41, Nov 11, 2019 | Updated : 18:45, Nov 12, 2019

The very severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' has left a miles-long trail of damage in the power sector in the country's 14 coastal districts after it started lashing out on Saturday (Nov 9).
Three distribution companies those oversee the power sector in the area assessed the damage which may amount to Tk 180 million with Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) suffering the worst.
Sources at Power Division said a power outage hit as many as 14 coastal districts after two national grids faced a 'trip' during the cyclone.
As of Monday afternoon, power supply became normal all 14 district towns with repairing work underway in rest of the area, the sources added.
Power distribution companies, however, said it would take one more day to restore the power supply across the 14 districts.
In its report to the Power Division, the BREB said approximately 93,000km-power line went out of service during the two days of the cyclone.
The storm also moved nearly 2,000 electricity poles and a number of transformers causing nearly 100 million in damage in total, according to the report.
Nearly 2 million connections were out of electricity till 4pm Monday, a BREAB official told Bangla Tribune adding some 37,000km-power line is likely to be restored by Monday midnight.
“Another 10,000km distribution line will be functional by Tuesday (Nov 12) leaving 700,000 more subscribers out of misery,” said the official, who wished to go unnamed.
The Power Development Board (PDB) has estimated the loss of over Tk 6.6 million.
A four-kilometre 33 kilovolts power line, three towers, a two-and-half-kilometre 11 kilovolts distribution line, 12-and-half-kilometre 0.4 kilovolts power line, and 11 electricity poles have been damaged due to cyclone 'Bulbul', the PDB said.
The distribution company, however, restored power supply across all area by Monday morning.
Sources at West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC) said, around 700,000 subscribers were out of services due to the storm. Power supply, however, became normal by Monday noon.
WZPDC suffered a loss of Tk 77.2 million due to the cyclone, Managing Director Engineer Md Shafique Uddin told Bangla Tribune.
As many 133 electricity poles fell down and 211 kilometres of power line were damaged, he added.
The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), which oversees the national power grid, said all of its transmission lines were restored by Monday morning.
Trees fell on the 132kv Barishal-Madaripur and Bagerhat-Bhandaria transmission lines leaving Barishal, Patuakhali and Borguna districts out of electricity, a senior PGCB official said.
Power supply, however, was restored on Monday morning, he added.

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