Pokhara, November 27

Residents of Gumbaphedi, Pokhara, have been living in the dark for the past three days, thanks to the apathy of the concerned authority towards timely repair of a dysfunctional transformer.

According to local Manohari Poudel, over 50 households of Gumbaphedi have been affected due to the power outage. “Earlier, cooking gas was available easily, so power outage didn’t matter much.

But with cooking gas in short supply we are completely dependent on electricity to cook food,” he said.

Residents of Matepani and Jabare, near Lake Side, have been facing similar problem. Although the technicians of Nepal Electricity Authority had reached Matepani to repair the transformer, they failed to do so.

Engineer at NEA Pokhara distribution centre, Suraj Regmi, admitted that the transformers were exploding due to increased demand for electricity. “As more people are using electric appliances such as rice cookers and electric heaters, the old transformers do not bear the load and explode,” he said, adding that the office had not been able to carry transformers to the repair centres due to fuel crisis.

Regmi also said that the NEA had received thousands of applications from customers seeking to to increase volume of power supply to their households.