Vocabpower

READEASE NEWSLETTER Jun / 2023 / First Week

| Protests have been held in recent weeks over the country’s electricity shortage

City dwellers swelter amid power cuts

Nasrul Hamid says plants closing is the reason

A
s the current heat- Due to frequent outages, resi-
wave gets worse, dents are suffering as the mer-
the country's power cury rose to 37 degrees Celsius
shortage shows no yesterday in Dhaka. Industries
signs of improvement. all over the country are facing
production losses.
Heatwave তাপপ্রবাহ
Power shortage বিদ্ যুত-ঘাটতি
Frequent outages বারবার ল�োডশেডিং
Production losses উৎপাদন ক্ষতি

  VocabPower | ReadEase 1
Power Cuts in Dhaka
Power cuts have increased
alarmingly due to the shutdown
of several power plants, said
Nasrul Hamid, state minister
for power, energy and mineral
resources.
"The Payra power plant is going
to shut down completely after
June 5 due to the coal crisis.
One of its units is already out
of operation. We are struggling
to import fuel for the power
plants. We are also having to
channel gas from the power
sector into the industries," he
said, speaking at a programme
in Savar.
Talking to The Daily Star, a res-
ident of Mogbazar said people
in his area faced outages at least
seven times for over five hours
on Thursday.
The picture is more or less the
same in Dhaka city and its
adjacent areas. The rural areas
have been facing more cuts for
several days now.
The country experienced
around 2,247 MW of power
shortage against the demand
for 14,000 MW early afternoon
Power, energy and mineral resources
Faced outages
Experienced around 2,247 mw of power shortag
Has skin rashes
The cuts lasted
Hampering his preparation
Halfway through
The district are getting more patients
Getting electricity
Peak hours
2  VocabPower | ReadEase
yesterday, according to data pering his preparation."
from Power Grid Company of
Bangladesh. "We had a foreign order for two
thousand jerseys, which were
The distributing companies said supposed to be delivered by
last week that they are shedding today. But we are only halfway
load mainly in the daytime. But through due to frequent pow-
outages are occurring at night er cuts," said Fahim Sajjad, a
as well. small garment factory owner in
Savar's Fulbaria.
From midnight to dawn on
Saturday (12.00am to 6:00am), Md Hasibur Rahman, Civil
the situation was almost the Surgeon of Nilphamari, told
same—load of 2,000 MW to The Daily Star that hospitals in
2,400 MW was shed. the district are getting more pa-
tients suffering from diarrhoea.
Rubel Mia, a resident of Kh- Besides, patients with asthma
ilgaon, told The Daily Star are facing problems with nebu-
yesterday that his family faced lising.
cuts twice at night. "The first
outage occurred at midnight A private clinic owner of Rang-
and the next one at 5:00am. We pur said that electricity was
couldn't sleep the whole night. available for only eight to nine
My baby has skin rashes due to hours in the last 24 hours.
the cuts," he said.
"In the rural areas, people are
Taffannum, a resident of Shonir getting electricity only for five
Akhra, said there were at least to six hours a day," he added.
three cuts in her area, and that
every time the cuts lasted over The country's power generation
an hour. capacity is 23,370 MW. The
production was 11,753 MW by
"My younger brother's sec- day during getting electricity
ond-year examination is going yesterday.
on. But with the cuts are ham-
বিদ্ যুৎ, জ্বালানি এবং খনিজ সম্পদ
বিদ্ যুৎ চলে যায়
প্রায় ২২৪৭ মেগাওয়াট বিদ্ যুতের ঘাটতি
ঘামাচি হওয়া
বিদ্ যুৎ থাকে না
পরিক্ষা প্রস্তুতি ব্যাঘাত ঘটায়
অর্ধেক
জেলায় র�োগীর সংখ্যা বেরে গেছে
বিদ্ যুৎ পাওয়া
যে সময়টাতে বিদ্যতের চাহিদা বেশী
থাকে
 Power Cuts in Dhaka

The news in plain English

A begginer reader will find it easy to read...

T
here is very hot
weather right now,
and there is not
enough electricity
in the country. Many people
are having trouble because the
power keeps going out. It was
very hot, about 37 degrees Cel-
sius, in Dhaka yesterday. Facto-
ries all over the country are not
able to make things because of
the power problem.
The power cuts are happening
more and more because some
power plants have stopped
working. Nasrul Hamid, who
helps with the electricity, said
that the Payra power plant will
close completely on June 5 be-
cause there is not enough coal.
One part of the power plant is
already not working. It is hard
for them to bring in fuel for the
power plants, so they have to
use gas from other places.
A person from Mogbazar
talked to The Daily Star and
said that they had seven power
cuts for more than five hours
on Thursday. It is the same in
Dhaka and the areas around it.
Even in the countryside, they
have been having power cuts
for many days.
Yesterday, the country did not
have enough electricity. They
needed 14,000 MW, but they
only had 2,247 MW. The com-
panies that give out the elec-
tricity said that they are cutting
the power mainly during the
daytime, but there are also cuts
at night.
One person named Rubel Mia
said that they had two power
cuts at night. The first one was
at midnight, and the second
one was at 5:00 in the morn-
ing. They couldn't sleep all
night, and their baby got rashes
because of the cuts. Another
person named Taffannum said
that they had three cuts in their
area, and each time it lasted
more than an hour.
Because of the power cuts,
some things are not going well.
For example, a small factory
was supposed to deliver 2,000
jerseys, but they could only
make half of them because of
the power problem.
Hospitals are getting more
patients with diarrhea and
asthma because of the power
cuts. In some places, there is
only electricity for about eight
to nine hours in a whole day. In
the countryside, they only have
electricity for about five to six
hours a day.
The country can make 23,370
MW of electricity, and yester-
day they made 11,753 MW
during the busiest times of the
day.

The Question-Answer Session

The country is having a problem

1. What is happening with the coun-
with electricity because it is very hot
try's power supply as the heatwave
outside, and this is making it hard for
worsens?
them to have enough power.

The electricity keeps turning off and

on in people’s homes, and this is mak-
2. Why are residents suffering from
ing them feel unhappy and uncom-
frequent outages?v
fortable because they can’t use their
lights and appliances.

  VocabPower | ReadEase 3
Power Cuts in Dhaka
3. Why are industries all over the
country facing production losses?
4. What has caused the increase in
power cuts?
5. What is happening to the Payra
power plant after June 5?
6. How long and how often did people
in Mogbazar face power outages?
7. What are the power cut situations
in Dhaka city and rural areas?
4  VocabPower | ReadEase
The places where they make things,
like factories, are not able to work
properly because there is not enough
electricity. This means they cannot
make as many things as they want to.
The power cuts are happening more
often because some of the places that
make electricity had to close down.
They are not able to work, and that’s
why the electricity is turning off more
frequently.
After June 5, the Payra power plant
will completely stop working because
they don’t have enough coal, which is
the fuel they need to make electricity.
One part of the power plant is already
not working, and it is difficult for
them to bring in more fuel.
People in Mogbazar had their electric-
ity turn off and on at least seven times
on a day called Thursday. Each time it
turned off, they had to wait for more
than five hours before it came back
on.
In Dhaka city and the nearby places,
the power is going off and on a lot,
just like in the rural areas. This means
that both the city and the country-
side are having problems with their
electricity, and it’s not working all the
time.