Electricity is the 6th right, I say. In this world, nothing is possible without it. We have to move to the forest if we think of living without electric power supply.
Coming from an underdeveloped country, I have struggled to get a continuous supply of electricity. Even to this day, many places in rural Bangladesh are out of power. In the major city, the authority tries to provide, but power-cut cuts are an everyday occurrence.
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In our country, electricity primarily comes from natural gas. Other power options, like coal or water power, are available but not more than 10-20%. As a very densely populated country, it's nearly impossible for the government to cover every household and industry with these limited resources. So they buy from neighboring countries.
Current problems we are facing regarding power supply.
Power cut is almost an everyday occurrence, if not, then 3/4 times a week for 1 hour. During the summer, it goes up to 3/4 times a day, and for 2/3 hours.
The situation of the rural area is worse. The suburban place where I live gets direct line, but has to face power cuts. But in the rural areas, not a single day went by without a powercut. No one can say they get 24/7 electricity.
Voltage is another issue. Even if we get electricity, we can't speed the fans and sometimes the light and other electric items doesn't work properly.
High maintenance costs come to the customer's shoulder. Many can't afford the bill.
The major cities and suburban places like ours have direct power lines. We use post-paid meters. We pay the bills every month after usage.
In many places and industries, there are pre-paid meters/card, but the meter system is not easy, so people try to avoid them.
Solar power is only used by 10-20% of people in different areas. It's still not popular here and costs so high that we can't afford them.
Personally, I think direct power supply works best for us. But if the government can solve the issues of pre-paid meters, then it would be a good option for many too.
My thoughts on how to make the system better.
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There's no other way than increasing solar power usage. I'm not sure why the government doesn't focus on this. There are some projects run by NGOs and governments too that help people to install solar panels. But the price is too high. So many relies of using battery power in rural ares.
Infrastructure upgrade, buying electricity from abroad; all this costs more and comes to our shoulders. Rather, we should focus on how to use the sun, water to make electricity.
The direct power lines are so convenient that people can't use other options at the individual level. We also should change our mind. Solar power costs once, and a few times for maintenance, and gives electricity for many years. Also, it's a very sunny place so solar should be our priority to solve this issue and get 24/7 uninterrupted supply.
