It was already painful because mercury reached 41 degree Celsius. In addition, there was power cut since 8:30 pm. Even during regular power supply, ordinary household electric fans do not propel due to low voltage. The light remains dim at night if you are a commoner.[break]
Comparatively, people in Nepalgunj are considered luckier than those living in capital Kathmandu they do not face 16-hour long power outage. Despite acute power shortage in India, it has been providing electricity to Nepalgunj and some other bordering towns.
Electricity imported from India is a bane and boon to Nepal. Boon is that it´s been getting better supply than Kathmandu. Boon is that if there´s power outage at night Nepali side should wait whole night to fix the electric supply.
“There was power outage since yesterday due to power cut near Nanpara of India,” says Puspa Raj Panta, chief of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Banke. “We´ve fixed the line today. Since 12:45 we have power.”
NEA staffers usually go to India to fix the line whenever there is a problem. But at night, they cannot go to India because the border closes at night and need to wait until morning for it to open. It is the job of Nanpara Electricity Sub-station staffers to fix the supply line. But it takes more days to restore the supply.
“It´s the matter between the two countries,” adds Panta. “As per the agreement between two countries, it is the Indian officials´ responsibility to solve any problem. But we are concerned to restore supply here. So we take initiative.”
As Nepal and India share open borders, Nepali staffs can cross the border easily and fix the line. If they do not fix it on time, all the costumers start calling NEA staffers about the supply.
“You will be surprised the number of calls we receive when there is a problem in the supply,” he says. “We want to fix it as early as possible, because we as NEA staffers are also facing the problem of power cut. Our fan does not move, our house too remains in dark.”
Due to lack of generation of electricity this side of the border, Nepal has been importing electricity from India. As per the agreement, India had agreed to give 8 MW of electricity, but Nepalgunj has been receiving almost double than that. However, problem lies in the old supply line.
“We have to reschedule the power supply time table,” Panta told Republica. “We have to shift the feeders almost every hour due to irregular power supply.”
NEA has been requesting the government to improve the supply line. The NEA authorities suggested that improved supply line would restore Nepalgunj´s uninterrupted power supply.
“At least Rs. 10 million is necessary to improve this supply system,” says Sewan Kumar Mandal, engineer, NEA Banke. “India is ready to give more electricity, but the problem is our old and rustic electric supply line.”
Nepal has been importing expensive electricity from India and selling in cheaper price. Nepal buys it in Rs. 7.36 and sells in range from Rs. 3.60 to 7.30. “Every month, NEA bears almost Rs. 10 million losses,” says Mandal.
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