The NEA should be able to control leakage in the transmission and distribution systems which at present stands at around 25 percent

At a time when the entire country is reeling under acute power outages up to 14 hours a day around 200 institutional clients have, however, enjoyed uninterrupted power supply through dedicated feeder lines. These institutions consume up to 97 MW of electricity during the dry season during which the power generation dips to around 350 MW from 762 MW during the wet season. The fluctuation in power generation is attributed to many run-of-river power plants for not being able to produce in full capacity due to low volumes of water in the snow-fed rivers. In order to meet the demand the country has been importing around 250 MW of electricity from India; even that is not enough to meet domestic demand. Although the state-owned power utility – Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) – has not made public the list of those institutional clients that enjoy uninterrupted power supply through dedicated feeder lines most of them in seven cities. Kathmandu Valley and Hetauda are the biggest consumers. It is learnt that the Singha Durbar, TIA, President’s Office, PM’s official residence and other government buildings and industrial estates outside the capital enjoy such feeder lines.

Even the NEA officials believe that the load-shedding hours could be lowered by one hour if these uninterrupted feeder lines are not given to the government offices and residences. NEA has a total of 2.8 million clients across the country who are compelled to live in darkness for most of the hours. The industrial estates in major cities are also getting dedicated feeder lines during the daytime. But the state-owned power utility should not favour some influential institutions at the cost of ordinary citizens who are also the driving force for economic growth. The NEA must make public the list of those enjoying the dedicated feeder lines. It is the people’s right to know why these institutions enjoy round-the-the-clock power supply while the ordinary people do not get the same, even during the peak hours.

What can be suggested is that most of the government institutions such as Singha Durbar, TIA and President’s Office can install solar panels on their own annual budget. Various government facilities, including the security forces and government-run hospitals which have enough space and resources can easily install solar panels to generate energy required for them round the clock. The government should also give incentives to service providing sectors such as star hotels and privately-run hospitals to shift towards alternative renewable energy. They can do it by diverting their resources spent to generate energy through captive plants towards renewal energy. Moreover, the perennial problem of power crisis cannot be overcome unless the government also develops more reservoir-based hydro plants amounting to around 300 MW in the near future. On the other hand, the NEA should be able to control leakage in the transmission and distribution systems which at present stands at around 25 percent. NEA can save another 50 MW of energy without additional investment if it reduces the leakage at 10 percent. The industries enjoying dedicated feeder lines should be barred from operating during the peak hours.

Animal-friendly road

Nepal could very well have an animal friendly road by April, 2017. It does not possess such a road as of now. At present, many wild animals, many endangered, are hit and killed in narrow roads by speeding vehicles. It has now been decided to widen the road along the Narayangadh-Muglin road section. This would make the road more animal friendly. It is appropriate to widen this road as it is connected with the Chitwan National Park. The World Bank is going to finance this venture by providing financial assistance of around Rs. 900 million.

This means that wildlife would not be killed or hurt as they go to the Narayani River to drink water. The park has big wildlife like the one-horned rhinos, tigers, elephants and deer as well as many rare species of mammals and other forms of life. Building animal-friendly roads is something novel for Nepal, and it could do well to learn from other countries where such roads exist. As such, more such roads should be built in other parts of the country taking into account that many of the animal species are rare and need to be protected.