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Residents across Cumilla district in Bangladesh are enduring significant hardship due to frequent and prolonged load-shedding. Power outages often extend for several hours each day, disproportionately affecting rural areas and disrupting essential daily activities.

The persistent power cuts are severely impacting students' ability to study, hindering irrigation and agricultural operations, and causing financial losses for small businesses and agro-ventures in villages and suburban areas. While urban dwellers in Cumilla city experience fewer disruptions, residents in upazilas like Daudkandi, Chauddagram, and Nangalkot report daily outages of six to seven hours. Business owners, such as metal workshop proprietors, note substantial losses due to suspended activities during these prolonged power interruptions.

Although some areas have reported slight improvements recently, with outages reduced to one to two hours daily in some parts, the overall situation remains challenging. Residents are urging authorities to implement a more balanced power distribution system and ensure uninterrupted supply for essential services like hospitals.

Jashim Uddin, executive engineer at Cumilla Jangalia Power Distribution, explained that the district faces a power deficit of approximately 150-200 megawatts during peak hours. The demand stands around 1,600 megawatts, while the supply hovers around 1,350 megawatts, leading to scheduled load-shedding across all 18 upazilas.