People have started coming out in the streets and taking the law into their own hands. This is an ominous sign for everyone, let alone the government of the day, caretaker government, or the incoming government.

The power generation and supply system appears to have completely collapsed. The national grid cannot meet even 50% of the average demand. Against a coincident peak demand of about 4,900 MW the generation has come down to a little over 3000 MW.

It is a shame, it is a disgrace. It has not happened over a day or a month. Non-professional attitude and massive corruption has culminated in this misfortune. There has been practically no addition to power generation over the entire term of the 4-party alliance government.

The lone so-called peaking plant at Tongi has become a liability. The coal operated plant at Barapukuria is already sick, like the coal mine. Many of the ageing plants at Ashuganj and Ghorashal are long overdue for overhauling. Some of these have outlived their economic life and should have been replaced by this time.

No major new plants were set up and very little maintenance was carried out. So instead of increasing, power generation has gone down. On the other hand, demand has increased in geometric progression. The country's power sector will remain in trouble for a long time into the future. Consequently trade, commerce, and even civic life are in total chaos and jeopardy. So what are the remedies?

As conscious citizens, no self-respecting Bangladeshis should keep their fingers crossed and wait for divine blessing. The civil society must diagnose the failures and come up with possible remedies to alleviate the ongoing sufferings.

I remember that I had an opportunity to help prepare the minutes of a high level meeting at the PMO sometime in 2005 while working as director (operations) of the national gas grid. My friend, Aminur Rahman, director (operations) of TGTDCL, and myself had some ideas for load management which could have been effective during that period. But I believe that the situation is much worse now.

Staggering the peak load over different slots may not work now. In many countries, super-markets are open only during the day on week-days. They do not have power generation crisis, but they still do that, but in our power-starved country we keep our super malls open till midnight. Is this not a luxury?

We have developed this culture and cannot easily come out of it. But civil society must create public opinion about shopping culture during the day and on week-ends. All shops and markets, excepting food and medicines shops, must close by 6 pm on weekdays. This will save a significant amount of power during peak time.

There should be a massive drive for disconnecting unauthorised and illegal connections during care-taker government's tenure. A sufficient amount of diesel must be kept reserved for the upcoming irrigation season for relieving the national power grid from a significant load, and avoiding the possibility of another Kansat-like incident.

The national gas grid has now crossed the Bangabandhu Jamuna multi-purpose bridge. We must allow private sector investors to set up small off-grid power plants at various growth centres to relieve the national grid. I remember that in 2002, in a seminar, the finance minister categorically confirmed that government would not hesitate to approve as many as 40 small off-grid power plants if such proposals were available. He even proposed to arrange financial support for such initiatives. Forty 15-20 MW off-grid power plants would have saved the government a lot of hassle, and could have been an invaluable investment for the ensuing election.

The Sirajgonj power plant would have been up and running by now if the Summit-PDB joint venture had got the final approval. The author is aware of this initiative. It can be guaranteed that Bangladesh will never receive a cheaper option than this again. The new government must not make the mistake of scrapping fair contracts for narrow political gains.

All the dubious and non-transparent power deals must be scrapped, and fresh tenders must be invited in a transparent manner within the first 100 days of the new government. The list should include Meghnaghat Units 2 & 3, Sirajgonj 450 MW, Fenchuganj, and Chandpoor.

The complete overhauling and replacement of existing plants at Ashuganj and Ghorashal must receive priority. Any addition to power generation at Meghnaghat will require a new gas pipeline from Bakhrabad to Demra. This should proceed simultaneously, keeping a provision for extending this line across the Padma river over the future Padma bridge.

Coal mining options must be given serious thought, and every coal mine must have mine-mouth power plants. Power from municipal waste can be an option for Dhaka and Chittagong. The solar power option must get priority attention. The bio-diesel alternative must be given serious attention. Plants can be made to run on bio-diesel.

A regional power grid can be a viable option. Last year, in New Delhi, the author had the opportunity to meet senior executives of the ONGC and the Mittal group. India is planning to set up large power plants at Tripura, a stone's throw from the Kasba border. If this happens, Bangladesh may exchange power with India. We need power during peak hours, and can sell during off-peak hours when all our effective generation is available. The surplus power from captive generation plants can be made available to the grid at peak hours. This will relieve the national grid of some load in the industrial belts.

Well, these are just some wild thoughts. But it is my humble appeal to patriotic nationalist forces to seriously think and act for finding ways and means for relieving the people from the pains of the power crisis.

Saleque Sufi is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.