No load-shedding in villages, claims power minister

Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku has claimed that there is no real load shedding in rural areas.

He said this at the briefing on the third day of the District Commissioner (DC) Conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital on Tuesday (May 5).

The minister said that due to the long lines of rural electricity, power supply is temporarily cut off in some places. However, if the problem is resolved, the power supply returns to normal quickly—it is not right to call it load shedding.

He also said that the power shortage or disconnection that was seen recently was mainly due to mechanical faults, not due to fuel shortage. The idea that load shedding occurs due to lack of oil is also not right.

He also said that the district administrators have played an important role in dealing with the artificial crisis that was created some time ago regarding fuel oil.

Highlighting the government's plans, he said that a target of generating 5,000 megawatts of electricity from solar energy in the next five years has been set. As part of this, orders have been issued to install solar panels in the offices of the District Commissioners within the next three months.

This initiative of the government is being seen as an important step towards a sustainable energy system, said the officials concerned.