Power cuts remain far more frequent in villages than in cities, with a massive heatwave sweeping Bangladesh for about two weeks now, corroborating the proposition that global warming puts the poor under far more stress than the rich.

The situation of the poor is even worse in countries like Bangladesh, where, as revealed by high officials in the country’s five power distributors, city dwellers are prioritised in supplying electricity.

The discrimination was particularly highlighted on Tuesday, when the Bangladesh Power Development Board boasted about setting a new power generation record, with major city-based power distributors receiving as much electricity as they wanted while villages remained without power for hours, up to eight hours.

‘We experienced 6 to 8 times power cuts every day over the past 15 days,’ said Shah Ali, a resident of Shiyalkhoa of Kaliganj in Lalmonirhat.

Excessive heat killed 150 birds at the poultry farm owned by Shah Ali over the past two weeks, reported New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat.

In Lalmonirhat Sadar, Afzal Hossain said, power cuts occurred seven times between 9:00pm on Tuesday and 4:00pm on Wednesday.

Each power cut usually lasts for one hour.

At 9:00pm on Tuesday, the PDB said, 16,233MW was generated, the highest-ever electricity generated, against the demand of 16,700MW.

The power distributors in Dhaka – Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited – said that they did not have any shortage in the supply of  electricity on Tuesday when their peak demands were 1,328MW and 1,745MW.

After a day of slight drops, the temperature increased once again on Wednesday, prompting people across Bangladesh to offer special prayers seeking god’s blessings to end the extreme heat stress.

On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s highest maximum day temperature of 40.5C was recorded in Ishwardi, with a severe heatwave sweeping over Rajshahi, Pabna, Khulna, Bagerhat, Patuakhali, and Jashore.

A mild to moderate heatwave with temperatures between 36C and 39.9C was sweeping over most of Bangladesh, including the capital, Dhaka.

The West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited, which supplies power to Khulna, Barishal, and greater Faridpur, mostly in towns, also received as much electricity as it needed on Tuesday – 685MW.

The Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited, which distributes power mostly among the inhabitants of towns in Rajshahi and Rangpur, recorded only 10MW load-shedding with a demand of 771MW.

The BPDB, which distributes electricity in the cities and towns of Chattogram, Cumilla, Sylhet, and Mymensingh, witnessed around 100MW of load-shedding on Tuesday.

The power distributors blamed power cuts in cities and towns on technical glitches.

The Rural Electrification Board, on the other hand, responsible for supplying electricity to over 3.5 crore domestic consumers in villages along with other consumers, received 9,250MW against their demand of 9,981MW at 9:00pm on Tuesday.

‘This is usual for villages to suffer more load-shedding since cities accommodate more important establishments,’ said Debasish Chakraborty, member, REB.

The highest hours of power cuts are experienced in the villages of Mymensingh, he said, adding that this is because of poor local generation.

Rezaul Karim, who is in charge of distribution in the PDB, said that the reason for villages suffering relatively more power cuts is rather in-built because distribution and transmission networks are poorer in villages than in cities.

‘Power cuts are inevitable in villages even if there is no power shortage,’ he said.

Bangladesh has an installed capacity of over 27,000MW. Half of the capacity stays idle because of fuel shortages.

Bangladesh’s power system is overwhelmingly fossil fuel-dependent, where $33 billion has been invested over the past 14 years.

Idle power capacity generated Bangladesh Tk 1 lakh crore over the same period.

Bangladesh announced 100 per cent electrification in March 2022, months before introducing rotating power cuts because of the fuel crisis owing to the dollar crisis.

The dollar crisis is considered to be largely an outcome of the wrong power policy, which is reflected in the fact that power consumption in industries has significantly decreased.

People are overburdened by their electricity bills, which have increased by 300 per cent over the past 14 years.

New Age correspondent in Rangpur reported up to four hours of power cuts in the city and up to 10 hours of power outages in rural areas.

‘Even after paying so much for power, we cannot expect to get a little relief,’ said Mostafizur Rahman, a farmer at Moyenpur village in Rangpur’s Mithapukur upazila.

The Directorate General of Health Services issued an eight-point health directive advising people on ways to avoid heat stroke.

Almost all educational institutions have suspended in-person classes and switched to online classes because of the heatwave that began on April 11.

Dhaka recorded the second-hottest day on April 20 in 64 years.

The DGHS confirmed the first death from heat stroke in Chuadanga on Tuesday, though newspapers reported 20 deaths from heat strokes since April 19.

Four of the deaths occurred on Wednesday—one each in Dhaka, Patuakhali, Natore, and Cumilla.

This was the second consecutive day that Dhaka saw deaths with heat stroke symptoms.

Non-government organisation Disaster Forum reported 16 deaths between April 19 and 22, monitoring newspaper reports.

Streets in Dhaka continued to look deserted in the afternoon because of the excessive temperature.

The Met Office said that there was no chance of the heatwave retreating anytime soon.

The World Meteorological Organisation said on Tuesday that Asia was warming faster than the global average and that the warming trend had nearly doubled since the 1961–1990 period.

Global media reported that a massive heatwave was sweeping south and southeast Asia.