Tajik authorities say electricity rationing will be mitigated during the holy month of Ramadan.
“During the holy month of Ramadan, residential customers in rural areas will receive electricity in the morning and in the evening so they could cook food,” Nozir Yodgori, a spokesman for Barqi Tojik (Tajikistan’s national power utility company), told Asia-Plus today morning.
But he did not specify the exact time.
Yodgori further noted that a decision on lifting the power rationing in the country has not yet been adopted.
Residential customers in rural areas now have electricity eighteen hours per day – from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm.
Recall, the electricity rationing system came into force on January 5, beginning at 11:00 pm. Residential customers in rural areas had electricity seventeen hours per day – from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm.
Electricity rationing has not affected Dushanbe, regional administrative centers and large cities.
Tajik authorities noted that they had been forced to introduce the electricity rationing in January because the water level in the reservoir powering the Nurek hydropower plant had been four meters lower compared to the same period last year.
The electricity rationing that was introduced in rural areas of Tajikistan in early January was reduced from seven to six hours in February.
On February 13, the power rationing was reduced from seven to six hours. The power rationing was reportedly reduced due to increase in water level in the Vakhsh River.
Measures rationing electricity supplies are usually introduced in all regions except Dushanbe and regional administrative centers and they seek to curb the country's rising electricity consumption. In addition to curbing rising consumption, the move also stems from a decline in the water level in the country's reservoirs powering the main hydroelectric power plants.
In Tajikistan, the holy Muslim month of Ramadan began today, April 13.
