Kathmandu, February 1:

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has imposed 46.5 hours of power cut every week from Lamahi to Lahan, increasing load-shedding hours from 36 hours, from today.

Issuing a public notice, the NEA said today it has to increase power cut hours because machine No. 1 at Kulekhani II Hydropower Centre has to be repaired, which would cause the whole centre to be closed for two weeks.

From today onwards, there will be eight hours of load-shedding for three days and seven-and-a-half hours of load-shedding for remaining three days each week. As usual, each of the seven groups will enjoy one day in a week without load-shedding. This is the third load-shedding schedule the NEA has published in one month. It announced 15 hours of load-shedding every week on January 4 and the same was extended to 36 hours on January 10.

Coincidentally, the decision to increase load-shedding hours came just four days after the parliament sought the government’s plan to minimise load-shedding hours.

The Parliamentary Finance Committee on Monday ordered Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and Water Resources Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki to produce reasons why the hours of load-shedding cannot be minimised in a week. At the meeting, lawmaker Bharat Mohan Adhikari had accused the government of being indifferent to the impact of load-shedding.