Around 22,000 electricity consumers in parts of Lalmonirhat's Aditmari and Kaliganj upazilas have remained without power for four days after a 10 MVA transformer was damaged by lightning during a storm, causing severe hardship for nearly 50,000 residents.

Power supply has remained suspended in most areas of Kamalbari, Palashi, Bhelabari, Gorol, Chalbala and Durgapur unions since the transformer at the Aditmari-2 substation in Haziganj developed a fault during the storm.

Residents said nearly 92 hours had passed since the transformer was damaged, but electricity supply had yet to be restored.

The prolonged outage has disrupted daily life, causing acute water shortages, difficulties in charging mobile phones, and interruptions to business activities, education and other essential services. The ongoing heatwave has particularly affected children, elderly people and those suffering from illnesses.

Local traders said refrigerated food items had started to spoil due to the prolonged power cut, causing significant financial losses.

Students have also been struggling to continue their studies as the lack of electricity has hampered access to lighting and electronic devices.

Residents urged the authorities to repair or replace the damaged transformer without further delay to restore electricity services.

Muhammad Abdul Fattah, Deputy General Manager of the Aditmari Palli Bidyut Samity, said, a replacement transformer had already been brought from Dhaka and installation work was underway.

Power supply would be restored as quickly as possible, he added.

Aditmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Gunjan Biswas said the local administration was maintaining regular communication with the electricity authorities and taking necessary steps to ensure the supply is restored at the earliest.