• NEA has given targets to provincial, division offices and distribution centres to limit power leakage in their respective areas

Dhangadi, December 24 Nepal Electricity Authority, which has moved ahead concertedly to control theft and leakage of electricity of late, is preparing to take its campaign to Sudurpaschim Province as well. Work in this direction started with the authority orienting its Province 5 Division Office of Nepalgunj and distribution centres operational in Sudurpaschim Province by giving them targets to reduce power leakage and control power theft. Speaking at a programme in Dhangadi today, the state power utility Executive Director Kulman Ghising revealed the target of containing power leakage to 8.05 per cent in Nepalgunj area and 10.69 per cent in Sudurpaschim Province. NEA’s Sudurpaschim Provincial Office in Attariya in the fiscal 2018-19 had received a target to limit leakage to 13.69 per cent. The office has now got the target to further bring down leakage and contain it at 10.69 per cent this fiscal. The target, however, doesn’t seem viable for the office given the leakage percentage of 9.62 per cent by mid-November. There are 12 distribution centres in nine districts in the province under the NEA’s Attariya-based office. While electrification under the NEA system stands at 65.65 per cent in the province so far, the number of its clients rounds up somewhere at 214,000. The Division Office Nepalgunj, on the other hand, has been given the target of containing leakage to 8.05 per cent this fiscal, down from the target of 10.64 per cent it had last fiscal. The leakage percentage at the office in the first four months of the present fiscal stands at 10.19 per cent. There are as many as 313,000 clients under 10 distribution centres in six districts under the office. The NEA has signed work performance contracts with the chiefs of distribution centres under the Nepalgunj and Attariya-based offices being based on three major fronts, namely, power leakage, revenue collection and improvement in service delivery. While the NEA management signed the contracts with the chiefs of the distribution centres, NEA Executive Director Ghising signed such contracts yesterday with Province Division Office Nepalgunj Chief Munindra Thakur and Provincial Office Attariya Chief Shatish Kumar Karna. On the occasion, Nepal Electricity Authority Board of Directors member Chetraj Joshi and NEA Executive Director Ghising had instructed the chiefs of the offices to provide quality service to clients and focus on electrification and improvement of infrastructure. Work performance will be determined on the bases of various indices such as limiting the administrative cost, clearance of power tariff dues, quality and reliable service to clientele and the likes.