Pokhara, May 16

Gandaki Province government aims to supply electricity to every household in the province within a year in line with the policy of connecting all villages to the national power grid.

According to government statistics, 25 local levels of the province are connected with the national grid, 49 local levels are partially connected and 11 local levels do not have electricity supply. According to Province Policy and Planning Commission, around 17 per cent people are deprived of electricity.

Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development Ram Saran Basnet said the government had identified the areas with no electricity. “We are now working on various ways to supply power to those places.” He said the government would provide solar energy in (Himali) mountainous areas of five districts as supplying electricity was not immediately possible. He said solar panels would be provided to local levels in those areas. He added installation of solar panels was under way in numerous wards of various local levels.

The province is to be declared ‘Light Province’ after power reaches every part of province. The province government allocated Rs 400 million for ‘Light Province Programme’ this fiscal.