Works to lay electric cable underground begins in Bharatpur, construction work expected to be completed within two years

BHARATPUR, Sept 3: The work to lay the electrical wires underground has started in Bharatpur Metropolitan City. The Pokhara-Bharatpur Distribution System Strengthening Project under the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is laying the electricity distribution system underground in Bharatpur.

The foundation stone of the project was laid down on Saturday by the Chairman of CPN (Maoist Center) and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Inaugurating the project, Chairman Dahal said that it is necessary to create an environment for the distribution system to provide safe and quality services. 

Chairman Dahal argued that the underground system should be expanded not only to Bharatpur but also to Chitwan district as a whole. He added that Bharatpur has already reached a position to show a development model across the country.

Birendra Kumar Jha, Chief Engineer of the Project said that the wires are going to be placed underground for the purpose of strengthening and automating the distribution system.

The government allocated the budget to underground the electric wires of the main cities of Kathmandu, Pokhara and Bharatpur. This work has already started in Kathmandu and Pokhara. In Bharatpur, the work has been started from under construction 6-lane road, bypass road and from Anptari to Pulchowk in the first phase.

According to Project Chief Jha, electric cables will be laid underground on both sides of the 313 km road in the first phase. He said that they will work in coordination with the concerned road department as the task of laying electric cables underground is also related to the construction of the road. The first phase of the work has been started in front of the office of Bharatpur Metropolis.

India's multinational company Tata has received the contract to complete the work within two years with the loan support of the Asian Development Bank. The budget of this project is 2.59 billion rupees.

Managing Director of NEA Kulman Ghising said that underground cables are very useful from the point of view of life safety. He said that this will increase the beautification by providing quality, safe and reliable electricity service by strengthening it through underground technology.

Speaking at the event, Renu Dahal, Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan Municipality, urged the construction company to complete the work on time as people in general have developed a habit of not working within the scheduled time.