Factories falling silent as power playing havoc

Workers at Darwani Textile Mills in Nilphamari passing idle time during a power outage. PHOTO: STAR

The vibrant BSCIC (Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation) industrial estate in Saidpur is falling silent gradually due to production disruption and foreign goods are making their way into the country, legally or illegally, sources there said.

Nilphamari district gets about one-fourth of the power needed. Only 8-10 megawatt is supplied against a requirement of 35-37, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) sources said.

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Owners of industries and small factories said they do not get power supply even for six hours at a stretch which could keep their machines running.

Power failure off and on keeps workers idle and inflates their loss. Many small industrial units and factories producing spares and machinery have been closed down. Those who can afford to buy generators are struggling to survive, they said talking to this correspondent on Thursday.

There are 40 small industries and about 100 small engineering farms in the BSCIC industrial estate.

Owners told this correspondent that the industrial estate needs uninterrupted power supply at least for six hours at a stretch a day to keep their factories running.

Sources in Darwani Textile Mills under Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), the lone big industry in the district, said their production target in February was 5,270 kilograms but only 56 per cent of it could be achieved due to frequent power failure. The factory is also losing buyers, they said.

The textile mill needs about one megawatt power in 24 hours but only one-fourth of it is supplied, they alleged.

The factory has to pay its 800 workers and employees although their services can not be utilised fully, thus incurring a loss of up to Tk one lakh a day, the sources said.

General Manager Abdul Quiyum said he wrote several letters to the BPDB authorities to ensure uninterrupted power supply for at least six hours a day, but to no result. Power supply often fails every two to three hours, he said.

The situation in the five cold storages in the district is more precarious. Sayed Ali, owner of Mukta Cold Storage, said potatoes are rotting in his store due to power supply disruption. Some of the cold storages use diesel-run generators, but that increases the expenditure. Eight motors in his cold storage tripped and went out of order due to low voltage, Ali said.

Visiting the cold storage on Wednesday, this correspondent saw dozens of women sorting out rotten potatoes on its premises.

Convenor of Saidpur unit of Bangladesh Small Engineering Factories Association, Sabbir Ahmed, said most of the factories in the industrial estate are now utilising around 30 per cent of their capacity. The production loss is to be blamed on frequent load-shedding, he said.

President of Saidpur BSCIC Industry Owners Association, Shawkat Chowdhury, said most of the units, big or small, have become sick and many of them will have to be closed down if this situation continues.

The small factories employ at least 15,000 people, who produce import substitute equipment and spares, saving country's foreign currency, but many of the units are facing closure due to irregular power supply, Shawkat said.