For a first time visitor to Dhaka, two things
are overwhelming. These are the crowds on the
streets and the throngs at the bazaars, markets
and shopping centres. Apparently, there is a
surfeit of people with a lot of money in hand in
Dhaka.
Consequently, we are a clearly in a sellers’
market where anything and everything can be sold
without concern for quality or price. The profit
margins, here, especially in respect of
restaurants, are significantly higher than in
similarly sized cities in the rest of South
Asia. You may like to consider an analysis why
this is so.
Another thing one notices is the almost total
absence of small cars, motorcycles and scooters.
Dhaka’s streets are any way narrow and congested
and the large number of big cars and SUVs
compounds the problem. I believe your journal is
influential enough to make a case for the small
car and the motorcycle, and, perhaps, in time,
there will be sufficient scale to invite the
setting up of medium sized assembly plants.
Yours,
Iftekhar Chowdhury
Motijheel, Dhaka
Power crisis and directive of the power
I am a regular reader of your magazine, as I get
information and new ideas projected in
sophisticated form in your magazine. I would
draw your attention to a pressing problem that
commands urgent mitigation.
The power ministry has recently asked the
concerned people to stop unnecessary wastage of
electricity at the shopping malls in the
evening. They have also floated suggestion as to
start generation of power from the power
stations.
The directives of the power ministry are
relevant to the intensity of existing power
crisis. But it should go to all concerned
managers of the closed power generation units or
the chief executives of the state-owned power
stations, and not only to the owners of shopping
malls.
It is reported that resumption of operation of
closed power station would add 600 mw of
electricity to the national power grid. It is
worthwhile to note here that, at the moment the
shortage of power in the national grid ranges
between 800 and 1000 megawatts. The power
authorities manage this shortage by way of load
shedding.
The power consumers in different districts and
the outlying areas are the main victims of
peak-hour load shedding. The power
administration has been keeping the urban
consumers, especially those in the capital city,
in good humour at the expense of the less
fortunate ones living in places far away from
the capital city and other important urban
centres of the country.
The power ministry can easily issue directives
to the stakeholders, but reaching minimum power
to the clients is tough, as persistent power
crisis in the country reveals everyday. The
chief executives and the operators of the closed
down power stations and generation units have
already articulated their limitations regarding
repair and overhauling of the inoperative power
units.
I would request you to present your readers an
in-depth report on power crisis depicting the
root cause of the problem.
Thanks
Asifa Akram
Banani, Dhaka
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