Mahbubur Rahman Tipu, Dohar (Dhaka)

Hundreds of residents in Dohar upazila blockaded and staged a fierce demonstration in front of the local Palli Bidyut Samiti-1 office on Sundau afternoon, protesting relentless power outages and alleged administrative corruption.

The situation, which escalated near the Bhuiyanbari field adjacent to the zonal office, was eventually brought under control following intervention by multiple police patrol teams and assurances of a swift resolution from top Palli Bidyut officials.

Demonstrators from the municipality and eight unions under the upazila expressed deep resentment, stating that they have been enduring power cuts lasting over 12 hours a day since mid-April this year.

Local residents alleged that despite having a sufficient national allocation of electricity, the Dohar Palli Bidyut authority has been deliberately rationing supply and enforcing extreme load shedding in village and union areas. Protesters noted that power is barely available for a consecutive 10 to 20 minutes before snapping again, severely crippling healthcare, daily household routines, and children's education.

The prolonged power crisis has triggered significant economic damage across the upazila. Handloom industry owners and laborers reported massive production drops and financial losses. Similarly, auto-rickshaw drivers stated that because electricity remains unavailable for the better part of the day, they are unable to charge their vehicles, directly threatening their daily livelihoods.

Compounding the frustration of frequent blackouts is a growing public fury over widespread institutional irregularities, customer harassment, and inflated "ghost" bills.

When contacted repeatedly regarding the mass public demonstration, the Deputy General Manager (DGM) of Dohar Palli Bidyut Samiti-1, Md. Badal Miah, did not answer his phone. However, AGM Bijoy Roy confirmed the siege, adding that the DGM had briefly assured the agitated crowd of uninterrupted power before leaving the office premises.

Providing an administrative explanation on the matter, Palli Bidyut GM Engineer Khademul Islam said, the electricity supplied to Dohar and Nababganj from the Hasnabad Grid in Dhaka fluctuates constantly against real-time demand, which complicates regional distribution and exacerbates public suffering.