Kathmandu, May 26:

Now on, people living in the area lying between Lamahi (Dang district) and Lahan (Siraha

district) will have to live in the dark only for nine hours a week. The area includes Tarai, hills and three cities of the Kathmandu valley — Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur.

The Nepal Electricity Authority cut the weekly load-shedding hours from 21 to 9, thanks to increased discharge in snow-fed rivers with a gradual rise in temperature coupled with unseasonal rain. The new load-shedding schedule came into effect today.

“Due to increased discharge in rivers, our power plants are in a position to operate in full capacity,” Sher Singh Bhat, director of the system operation department of the NEA, told this daily.

According to him, there will be no load-shedding for four days a week. Rest of the week, load-shedding will be from 6.30 pm to 9 pm, 7 pm to 9 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm.

Like in the past, the Nepal Electricity Authority will come out with an area-wise load-shedding schedule.

Indian grids supply power to the area lying between west of Lamahi and east of Lahan. According to Bhat, Indian grids supply 120 MW of energy in western Nepal and 35 MW in eastern Nepal.

The current domestic demand for electricity stands at 670 MW.

Bhat said the NEA would be able to further cut load-shedding hours from next week as the Khimti power plant will resume operation by then.

Asked if they were in a position to do without load-shedding, he said, “We are not in a position to do that. Though we need 670 MW of electricity on an average day, our plants can generate only 600 MW of power this time of the year.”