Janakpurdham, August 23

Power supply to Janaki temple in Janakpur was cut earlier today for non-payment of dues but was later restored in the evening by the Nepal Electricity Authority at the behest of the district administration office of Dhanusha.

Temple successor Mahanta Ramroshan Das Baishnav confirmed that the power supply was indeed cut but was restored later. “Several offices, including Janakpur Area Development Council, operating from the temple premises have not been paying the power tariff for long,” he told THT.

According to NEA Janakpur distribution centre chief Jitendra Jha, the temple owes NEA around Rs 6.8 million. “The amount includes interest on the dues and fines,” he said, adding, “As the amount is huge and nobody has come to clear the amount, we had no option but to cut the supply.”

According to sources, a decision on the dues that the temple has to pay will be taken in a meeting between Guthi Sansthan Janakpur chief, Janaki temple mahanta and NEA distribution centre chief.

As the temple is run under Chhut Guthi, it is entitled to keep all the records of income and expenditure.

Though the temple is said to be facing financial crisis, locals doubt that, citing non-transparent income of the temple.