The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has announced a structured daily load-shedding schedule of five hours across its campus, citing an acute shortfall in national electricity supply. The decision follows a formal advisory issued by the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), alerting university authorities to unavoidable grid-level power rationing.
The university administration communicated the measure through an urgent circular issued by the Office of the Chief Engineer on Sunday afternoon. The notice informed students, faculty, and administrative staff that grid power will be disconnected during five designated one-hour intervals throughout the day and night. The planned power outages are scheduled from 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, 12:00 midnight to 1:00 AM, and 3:00 AM to 4:00 AM.
University authorities acknowledged that internal backup power mechanisms will be insufficient to bridge the gap. The circular explained that the institution cannot sustain campus-wide power using its auxiliary generators during these rotational cuts due to capacity limitations. As a consequence, critical academic departments, residential dormitories, research laboratories, and staff quarters will experience disruptions during the scheduled outages, prompting the administration to appeal for mutual patience and cooperation across the campus community.
The rotational rationing comes amid broader national power generation strains, where fuel supply bottlenecks, reduced plant capacity, and peak distribution demands have forced utility providers like DPDC to enforce staggered cuts across metropolitan sectors. In high-density educational hubs like BUET, where advanced scientific machinery and continuous computing facilities operate, intermittent supply poses considerable logistical challenges to daily academic schedules and experimental work.
BUET Chief Engineer Dr A.K.M. Jahangir Alam explained that the administration had to act on direct directives from the distribution utility. He noted that the notice was circulated on Sunday afternoon to give campus residents sufficient time to plan around the disruptions. The administration is actively exploring alternative arrangements to minimise disruptions to core campus facilities, though full restoration depends entirely on DPDC stabilizing the grid.
Dr Alam added that power distribution will return to normal operating standards the moment the distributor resolves its generation deficits. However, the university was unable to provide a definite timeline for when the emergency power-rationing schedule will be lifted.
