Advocate Zainul Abedin, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Member of Parliament for the Barishal-3 constituency, has raised serious concerns in the Jatiya Sangsad over severe electricity disruptions in his area. Speaking during the parliamentary question-and-answer session on Thursday, he alleged that residents in his constituency endure power cuts for nearly 20 hours out of every 24. Such acute and persistent load-shedding, he warned, has made it increasingly difficult to honour the pre-election pledge of providing uninterrupted electricity to citizens.
Addressing the House, Zainul Abedin reminded lawmakers of the core commitments made ahead of the polls. Delivering continuous power nationwide was one of the foremost promises of the elected government, with voters assured that 100 per cent uninterrupted supply would be guaranteed once the party assumed office. Yet the ground reality tells a starkly different story. Across Babuganj and Muladi upazilas, which comprise the Barishal-3 seat, power remains unavailable for the vast majority of the day. With barely four hours of electricity daily, household routines, students’ studies, and local commercial activities are facing severe disruption.
The lawmaker turned his attention to the technical infrastructure required to resolve the crisis. Referring to an earlier response from the relevant minister regarding plans to establish a 132/33 kV grid substation in the area, Zainul Abedin argued that the proposed capacity falls short of actual demand. He questioned whether a 132/33 kV facility alone would suffice to permanently solve a power deficit of this magnitude across both upazilas.
To meaningfully ease the prolonged hardship of local residents, he urged the authorities to upgrade the scope of the project. Zainul Abedin emphasised that initiating the construction of a higher-capacity grid substation—rated at a minimum of 140 or 144 kV—is essential to ensure stable transmission and meet growing regional consumption. He pressed the minister to provide a clear and specific timeline for when construction work on the high-capacity substation would commence and be completed.
