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Bangladesh awaits a very good news as all 465 upazilas of the country are to be brought under electricity coverage by 2018, a true reflection of the present government’s sincere efforts to rid the nation from load shedding. “We have targeted all the 465 upazilas to be brought under electricity coverage by the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) by 2018,” State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told here today. He said the present Awami League government under the bold and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already inaugurated a 100-percent electricity supply in the country’s six upazilas. Highlighting the steps taken by the government to make the country self-reliant in power production, Nasrul said currently 78 percent people of the country already have their access to electricity. He said the government after taking office has undertaken measures to meet the demand for power and started implementing short, medium and long term power projects as well. According to a ministry official, the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) has been working fast to achieve its target to bring 465 upazilas under electricity coverage by 2018. As part of the BREB’s target, some 34 upazilas have already been brought under the electricity coverage this year, while, 144 upazilas would get hundred-percent power supply by 2017 and 287 upazilas by 2018, he said. Earlier, the BREB made a commitment to provide 30 lakh new electricity connections by 2016-17, as it provided power connections to 30 lakh houses in 2015-16. Some 78 Palli Bidyut Samiti (PBS) under the BREB have been implementing its various development projects as the government has comprehensively extended the electrification activities through construction of lines and connections to bring power facilities to the doorstep of every citizen. Besides, the BREB would construct 35,000 kms power distribution line across the country by 2016-2017 and the state run organization has also fixed a target to bring the system loss down to 11.50 percent. It would also set up six solar charging stations and install 11,000 prepayment metres by FY 2016-17. The BREB has already brought 1,56,25,000 subscribers under its service and more than 3,01,098 kms of line has been constructed. Besides, it has installed Master Information Centre (MIC) at its headquarters and a software had also been installed in the MIC under the Quality Prepaid Metering project. |
