Dhaka, May 6 -- Residents of Savar's Ashulia have reported a sharp increase in load shedding, or rolling power outages, over the past few days, disrupting production across local industries, and adding to their discomfort during the ongoing heatwave.

On Monday afternoon, Shamim Sakhawat, general manager of Toha Textile in Kabirpur, said: "Load shedding has turned into a massive issue. The electricity has gone out four times already, each time for over an hour. Yesterday, it was even worse."

Delowar Hossain, managing director of Kanchpur's Needle Stitch Composite, described a similar situation.

Speaking over the phone around 6:30pm, he said, "Our factory experiences five to six power cuts every day. Each outage lasts between one to two ...