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Editorial

Theft of power transformers

Steps should be taken to intensify vigilance in rural areas


Bangladeshpost
Published : 01 Jun 2023 08:28 PM

Rampant theft of electric transformer in different rural parts of the country has become a cause for concern to subscribers as well as the authorities concerned. Many villages were plunged into darkness after power was cut off as thieves had taken away transformers from their localities in Gafargaon upazila of Mymensingh, according to media reports.

At least fifty electric transformers of different categories have been stolen from different places of Gafargaon in the last two years. The same grime scenario is prevailing in the country’s most rural areas.

Apart from Gafargaon, subscribers across the country often face the power outages for long time due to frequent theft of electric transformers in their respective areas. Villagers of the different district face serious difficulties as most of their tube-wells, shallow machines and deep tube wells went out of order due to power cut caused by transformer theft. As a result, farmers fail to irrigate their lands for crop cultivation.

The law enforcement agencies must intensify 

vigilance in 

the rural area immediately

When transformers are stolen, subscribers especially who live in rural area face untold sufferings in addition to monetary losses as transformers cannot be set in time even after depositing money due to shortage of the equipment. The subscribers alleged that they are not responsible to protect transformers from stealing but they are being compelled to spend money for buying fresh one.

Palli Bidyut Samity is a customer-oriented organisation and it runs with the money of its customers. Amid rising incidents of transformer theft, authorities of Palli Bidyutayan Board (Rural Electrification Board) have made it obligatory for its customers in the country to set iron chains and locks with electric transformers.

Police do not have any accurate statistics of how many incidents of transformer theft occur in the country. As a result, a large number of the incidents of transformer theft do not come to the attention of the police. The law enforcement agencies must increase police patrol, check posts and static security measures in the rural area immediately, especially where transformers have been installed to avert such incident.