Locals in Bagmara, Rajshahi, are suffering greatly due to load shedding of rural electricity. Customers are blaming some officials and employees who are hiding in the rural electricity office as the reason for the widespread load shedding in the area at untimely times. After the mass uprising of July 24-August, the success rate of good electricity increased many times. There was no load shedding in this area for almost two years. Suddenly, the load shedding of electricity has taken an extreme form in the last few days. There is no such load shedding of electricity in other areas of the country. However, the locals are seeking the intervention of the administration to investigate the reason for this happening in Bagmara.

Locals said that for the last 3/4 days, there has been no electricity for half of the 24 hours a day and night under the Bagmara Zonal Office of Natore Palli Bidyut Samity-1. This misery increases at night. Here, important government offices – courts, factories, upazila health complexes, students of various schools, colleges, businessmen, farmers and the general public are facing extreme suffering. With a little rain or a little strong wind, the electricity of Natore Palli Bidyut is being cut off on the pretext of a national grid fault. Sometimes the level of load shedding increases greatly.

Then the excuse of repairing other lines including the central transmission line was given. Currently, people of all levels are suffering from continuous power outages after evening. Mostafa Aminur Rashed, the former Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Natore Rural Electricity Association Bagamara Zonal Office, has taken sufficient allocation as per the demand due to his efficiency. But the locals are claiming that the residents of the area have been facing extreme load shedding since he left here one and a half to two months ago. In addition, there are multiple allegations of widespread corruption and bribery among some dishonest officials and employees who are lurking in the office, including the relevant departments of Rural Electricity, but the locals are not getting any remedy.

The aggrieved parties have claimed that the honest officers of the office are being humiliated by some dishonest people and have been cornered. According to them, the arbitrariness of the Bagmara Zonal Office includes, among others, overcharging the electricity bill against the electricity unit, illogical meter rent, PPG surcharge, collecting money every month in the name of life line in the name of step-by-step higher bill charges, etc. When asked about these, Bagmara Zonal Office Deputy General Manager (DGM) Asaduzzaman said, load shedding is happening due to problems in the national grid due to less electricity than the demand. Electricity is not being provided as per the demand. He also denied other allegations.