Long power cuts throw life out of gear

MORANG, April 14: With electricity supply lasting for not more than 30 minutes a day, life has been difficult for the people in eastern Nepal as summer reaches its boiling point.



Dozens of VDCs lying east of Koshi River, including Urlabari, Pathari, Damak and Rajghat are facing almost 24 hours of power cuts. [break]



“Of what use can thirty minutes of electricity be?” questioned Lila Raj Pradhan, a trader based in Urlabari-4.



The lengthy blackout has affected business, and has also made information expensive. The cell phones of most locals here have been out of use for 12 days. Communication through landline sets is regularly obstructed.



“People are no longer watching television, or listening to the radio. Newspapers might soon stop publishing,” said DP Khatiwada, editor of a local weekly.

None of the locals know the reason behind the near-total blackout.



“We get electricity for around 10 to 30 minutes. We are using candles and oil lamps at night,” said Prem Koirala, a local.



According to a Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), power supply has drastically dipped after India cut export.



Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, chief of Damak branch of NEA, said India has cut power export to Nepal for repairing towers along the Kataiya line.



Nepal is just getting 25 megawatts though the line. Supply before the repair started stood at 75 megawatts.



India cut supply over 10 days ago to repair 10 towers.



“Indian engineers have said that they need more time to repair the towers,” Bhattarai added.



After the supply was cut, NEA officials had announced 16 hours of load-shedding in the VDCs. However, the actual load-shedding lasts much longer.



“We are being able to supply power for 30 minutes to one hour per day,” he said.



The eastern region gets just 10 megawatts of power from the national grid.



The massive power cut has forced factories, communication centers, and mills to shut down.



Irrigation facilities have also been affected in dozens of VDCs in Morang and Jhapa districts, adversely affecting maize and vegetable crops.


Locals padlock NEA office



ITAHARI: Locals padlocked the Itahari branch of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Wednesday protesting the over 20-hour daily power cuts in areas east of Koshi River. Locals reached the office sloganeering and picketed for three hours beginning 10 am.



A rally was taken out in Biratnagar as well. Meanwhile, in Dhulabari, people protested by shutting down the market for an hour. Similar protests have been organized in eastern Nepal.

Related story

Avenged Sevenfold selling gear to aid music education charity