Storm leaves Chakaria without power for 48 hours, 44 poles damaged

Power supply has remained suspended for up to 48 hours in Chakaria upazila, Cox's Bazar, after a sudden Kalbaishakhi storm damaged the electricity infrastructure on Monday night, April 6. Residents are facing severe hardship as a result.

According to local sources, power had not been restored in various areas of the upazila until 8:00 pm on Wednesday, April 8. Perishable food items stored in refrigerators have started to rot, and many electricity-dependent establishments have shut down.

The storm caused extensive damage across the upazila's 18 unions and one municipality. Fallen trees and branches snapped power lines, disrupting electricity, telecommunications and internet services.

The Rural Electrification Board reported that 15 electricity poles were broken, 29 tilted, five transformers damaged, and wires snapped at around 200 locations. Damage was also reported in areas under BPDB, including Chakaria municipality, Fasiakhali, Chiringa, Saharbil, Surajpur-Manikpur, Kakara and Purba Bara Bheola.

BPDB has about 42,000 customers in Chakaria, while the Rural Electrification Board serves approximately 97,000 customers across Chakaria and parts of Lama upazila.

Residents expressed frustration over the prolonged outage. Sayed Hasan of Kakara said power had been out for 41 hours in his area, and delays in clearing fallen branches worsened the situation. A M Humayun Alam Kabir of Dulahazara said nearly 48 hours without power had halted all work. Subhrata De of Chakaria municipality alleged that even when power returned after 24 hours, it did not last more than a few minutes.

BPDB Executive Engineer Md Asaduzzaman said repair work has begun but the full extent of damage is yet to be assessed.

Chakaria Acting UNO Rupayan Deb said no major loss of life occurred. Both power agencies are working to restore normal supply quickly, he added.