Against the backdrop of such an acute power crisis, hundreds of people here yesterday laid a siege to Power Development Board (PDB) regional office demanding uninterrupted power supply.

The agitators gathered at Agrabad Badamtali intersection under the banner of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (Cab), Chittagong branch and then went to PDB Bhavan in procession chanting various slogans.

A brief rally was also held with Cab leader Nazir Ahmed in the chair before submitting a memorandum to the chief engineer of PDB Southern Region.

Speakers at the rally alleged that the city dwellers would not have suffered from acute loadshedding had the major portion of total power generated at different plants in Chittagong not been taken away to Dhaka through the national grid line.

They said power shortage is seriously hampering the preparation of SSC examinees.

Giving a seven-day ultimatum to PDB authorities, the Cab leaders said they would go for continuous movement if their demand is not met by that time.

Chittagong has a daily demand of 470 MW power but presently the PDB could supply around 320 MW causing average loadshedding of 150 MW, sources said.

PDB Chief Engineer Aminul Islam admitted to having an erratic power supply and frequent loadshedding in the port city.

" We could not give enough power to city dwellers due to inadequate power generation. The crisis exists as some of our plants are not functioning properly," he told this correspondent in the afternoon.