Students of three residential halls at Islamic University in Kushtia endured nearly 30 hours without electricity over the weekend, facing intense heat, water shortages and disruptions to their daily activities, including studying, eating and charging electronic devices.

The affected halls are Begum Khaleda Zia Hall, Ummul Mu’minin Ayesha Siddika Hall and Shah Azizur Rahman Hall.

Electricity supply to the halls was disrupted at around 9am on Friday and was restored at approximately 3pm on Saturday, after nearly 30 hours.

Students said the prolonged outage made it difficult to sleep and study, while also affecting water supply and food preparation. Those preparing for examinations faced additional challenges.

“It is difficult to stay without electricity amid the intense heat,” said Ahsan Foysal, a resident of Shah Azizur Rahman Hall.

“Students sitting for examinations are facing even greater difficulties. It cannot be considered normal for a residential hall to remain without electricity for 30 hours,” he said.

Nadia Islam, a resident of Begum Khaleda Zia Hall, said students had prepared for a scheduled power shutdown on Thursday but were caught off guard when the outage occurred on Friday.

“We are facing water shortages. How are female students who are menstruating managing in such a situation?” she said.

The university had earlier issued a notice regarding a scheduled power shutdown on Thursday. Although the shutdown did not take place that day, electricity supply to the three halls was disrupted from Friday morning.

IU Acting Chief Engineer Abdul Malek said the disruption was caused by a fault in an electricity line during renovation work at the substation.

He said the problem could not be resolved on Friday night, prompting the university authorities to attempt to restore power through the generator line.

“However, faults were detected at several points along the lines, including those supplying the halls,” he said.