A sudden power disruption affected parts of Dhaka and Chattogram on Tuesday, leaving several areas of the capital, including the Secretariat and Bangladesh Bank, without electricity. The outage began at 12:43 pm on 27 October, disrupting power supplies across eastern Dhaka and parts of the port city. The exact cause of the disruption was not immediately established, although the Power Division later attributed the incident to a mechanical fault.
Power Grid Bangladesh PLC began working to restore the national grid and reconnect affected areas. According to the company, the outage affected several locations in and around the capital, including Moghbazar, Banasree, Khilgaon, Bhulta, Haripur, Siddhirganj, Gulshan, Rampura, Ullon and Motijheel. Parts of Chattogram also experienced interruptions.
Engineers worked to restore electricity in stages, while the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) continued to oversee grid operations. Power supplies remained operational in other parts of the country, including the northern regions, according to the grid operator.
The Power Division subsequently reported that electricity had been restored to most of the affected areas. Work was continuing to reconnect the remaining locations, with the authorities expecting supplies to return shortly.
The disruption raised questions about the resilience of the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure, particularly given the impact on important government and financial institutions. However, officials did not immediately provide a detailed explanation of where the fault originated or how it spread across the affected network.
Data from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) showed that national electricity demand stood at 14,601 megawatts at 11 am on Tuesday, while generation reached 14,303 megawatts. This represented a shortfall of 298 megawatts at that time. No official information was available to establish whether the gap between demand and generation had any connection with the subsequent outage.
A fault in the national grid can interrupt electricity supplies across multiple locations, depending on the affected transmission lines, substations and network conditions. Restoring service may require engineers to identify the source of the problem, isolate the faulty equipment and reconnect sections of the network in a controlled sequence. The time required depends on the nature and extent of the disruption.
Bangladesh has experienced major grid failures in the past. On 4 October 2022, a disruption began in the eastern grid at around 2:05 pm, leaving large parts of the country, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and Mymensingh, without electricity. Supplies were restored progressively, with different areas regaining power within approximately three to eight hours. Following that incident, two officials of the Power Grid Company were temporarily suspended over allegations of negligence.
An even more extensive failure occurred on 1 November 2014, when a national grid disruption left the country without electricity for around 12 hours.
Tuesday’s incident once again highlighted the importance of reliable transmission infrastructure and effective fault management. Although electricity had returned to most affected areas by the time of the Power Division’s update, a detailed technical explanation of the latest disruption had yet to be made public.
