“To pay the minimum monthly electricity bill of Rs 80, I end up spending Rs 700 as I have to commute to district headquarters,” Bachandev Rai, a resident of Halesi, Khotang said.[break]
He said villagers are being forced to fork out such a huge sum every month owing to negligence of local administration and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
Residents of over a dozen VDCs including Lichkiramche, Simpani, Batase, Lamidanda, Halesi, and Bijaykharka have no choice but to commute to Diktel, the district headquarters, to pay electricity bills. They have to do so every month. The villagers say NEA slaps fines on them if they fail to submit the bills on time.
Dilli Man Rai, a resident of Lichkiramhe, said he has to trek for more than a day to reach the district headquarter to pay electricity bill.
One NEA staffer said despite being aware about the problems faced by villagers, the state power monopoly has not been able to set up counters outside district headquarters as there are no banking facilities in the villages.
Villagers say this has made electricity very expensive. Households that spent only Rs 50 when they used kerosene are now spending up to Rs 1,500 a month.
NEA records show it has 200 users in Lichkiramche, 50 in Indrenipokhari, 100 in Chipring, 150 in Simpani, 14 in Batase, 167 in Lamidanda, and 150 in Halesi. The users commute to Diktel every month to pay electricity bills.
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