Published: 11:34 PM, 17 August 2026
Severe Load Shedding Might Spark Mass Fury
Bangladesh is once again facing a deepening electricity crisis, and the growing burden of severe load shedding is beginning to test public patience across the country. Prolonged power cuts, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, are disrupting households, businesses, agriculture, education and industrial production at a time when heat and humidity are already making daily life difficult.
The latest crisis is closely linked to shortages of natural gas and other fuels needed for power generation. Recent reports indicate that load shedding has climbed above 3,000 megawatts at peak times, while some rural areas have experienced outages lasting seven to 12 hours a day. The situation has been particularly difficult outside Dhaka, where consumers often have fewer alternatives such as reliable backup generators.
For ordinary citizens, however, the crisis is not measured in megawatts. It is measured in sleepless nights, spoiled food, interrupted studies, stalled businesses and hours spent waiting for electricity to return.
The situation is especially painful during hot weather. Families struggle to sleep without fans or air conditioners, while children, elderly people and sick residents face additional discomfort. In villages and small towns, frequent outages also affect water pumps, refrigeration, mobile charging and communications.
Farmers are another major casualty. In several northern districts, electricity shortages are disrupting irrigation during a critical period for agriculture. Rice mills and other agricultural businesses are also facing higher operating costs because they have been forced to rely on diesel generators. In Naogaon, for example, factories and rice mills have reported repeated outages and increased fuel expenses.
Small businesses are similarly vulnerable. A restaurant cannot operate normally without refrigeration. A workshop cannot run machinery during repeated outages. Internet-dependent workers cannot maintain productivity when electricity and connectivity disappear together. For businesses already struggling with rising costs, purchasing diesel or maintaining a generator can become an additional financial burden.
The growing hardship is also creating a dangerous social dimension. Power distribution authorities have reportedly sought additional security for substations and offices in some areas amid rising public anger. There have even been concerns about attacks on electricity infrastructure. Such incidents would only deepen the crisis by damaging the very system that consumers depend upon.
The government has introduced electricity-saving measures, including earlier closing hours for shops and shopping malls and restrictions on decorative lighting and illuminated billboards. These measures may reduce demand, but conservation alone cannot solve a structural shortage of fuel and generation.
The immediate challenge is therefore to restore public confidence. People can tolerate temporary hardship when they understand its cause and see a credible solution ahead. What fuels anger is uncertainty: not knowing when the electricity will return, why one area receives relatively stable supply while another suffers for hours, and how long the crisis will continue.
